All of Me
by LovelyLady714
Summary: Jaded, distant bar-owner Santana meets Veterinarian Brittany. Can Brittany break through Santana's walls? Brittana with Puck, Sugar, Tina, and Mike friendships. Smutty goodness comes later on in the story, so just keep reading!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Idk if anyone even reads these anymore lol but I've had this story saved for a while (and mostly complete?), so I figured I'd finally start posting some chapters. Idk how I feel about this first chapter, but this fic is very AU and it introduces the characters and stuff so I guess it was necessary.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of the characters.

 _Friday Morning…_

"Damn it, Puck!" Santana yells as she once again trips over a bag of garbage left in the middle of the hallway leading to the back door of the bar. "It's too early for this shit," she mumbles as she picks up the bag to bring outside. Santana had stopped in at Pucktana's, the bar they own together, to check the inventory and order what was needed since she didn't get a chance to the night before. She'd never admit it aloud, but Puck is the only person she trusted to go into business with. He's been there for her through thick and thin and as much as he can get on her nerves at times, he's like family. 

As she opens the door to the alley in back, Santana hears some rumbling. "If you think you're gunna start something, I'mma go all Lima Heights on your ass! I've got razor blades in my hair and I'm not afraid to cut a bitch!" exclaims the feisty Latina as she scans the area around her. All of a sudden, a scared looking black and brindle puppy jumps out from behind the dumpster.

"Aww! So youuu were the one making all that ruckus?" Santana coos at the little pup. "Come here, cutie. It's okay," she says, trying to coax the dog over to her. It starts slowly creeping towards Santana, getting close enough to give her extended hand a couple licks, but then bolts away as the back door to the bar crashes open. Santana spins around as Puck comes out back carrying a few crates of empty bottles with the intention of tossing them in the recycling dumpster. 

"What the hell, Puck! Do you always have to smash through the damn door?!" Santana yells at her best friend. Puck turns to her with a questioning look. "My arms are full," he explains, "besides, when has it ever bothered you how I exit this door?" She shoots him a glare and says "Since you decided to scare off a lost puppy!" 

Puck bursts out laughing and once he catches his breath, he says to a scowling Santana, "Whoa, when did Santana Lopez start worrying about puppies?!"

Santana continues scowling and mumbles, "When I found one that actually seemed to like me." 

"What was that, Lezpez?" 

"Nothing, Fuckerman. Hurry up out here and meet me in the office so we can go over some stuff before I head out," Santana says while she walks back inside, but not before giving one more glance down the alley in case the puppy had decided to come back.

As Brittany walks into her Veterinary practice on the way to her office, she yells out "Good morning, Tina!" to her recently hired friend/assistant. Tina follows after her to inform her of the scheduled appointments for the day. "Dr. Pierce, you have a spaying scheduled in an hour and then a few check-ups, shots, and nail clippings scheduled for this afternoon," Tina informs her.

"Tina, how many times have I told you that you don't have to call me that? We've been friends for years now. Let's save the titles for our patients' parents, okay?"

"I know, I know. I was just trying to be professional, Britt."

"Ha! You know that's not going to happen here unless we're in earshot of the parents!" says Brittany with a bright smile.

Brittany and Tina finish the first appointment of the day smoothly and while Brittany brings the dog to the recovery area and instructs one of the volunteers on the necessary post-op care needed, Tina preps the room for their next patient.

The rest of the day goes by quickly, filled with simple, routine appointments. Once the last patient leaves with his parent, Brittany turns to Tina asking "What are you up to tonight?" Tina looks up from the paperwork she's filling out and says "Mike and I are going out to Pucktana's tonight with Sam. You should come with us! You know that'd make Sam happy," Tina says with a wink.

"Ha. Ha. You're so funny, Tina. You know I don't see him like that. Eww. He's like a brother to me so that'd totally be like incest or something. Besides, I'm strictly chickly!" Brittany says with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know Britt," Tina says with a laugh. "I'm glad he finally stopped hitting on you and repeatedly getting rejected, because that was just embarrassing! Are you going to join us? It's been too long since we've gone out dancing."

"Sure...but only if I can borrow your boyfriend for a few songs! You know Mike is the only one who can keep up with me!"

"Haha deal! You can keep him busy while I'm dying of exhaustion. You know that boy can dance circles around me! Sam's meeting us at our place first, then we'll swing by to pick you up around 9pm. Is that okay?"

"Works for me! I'll see you guys then!" Brittany says as they lock up and head to their cars to go home for the day.

Santana showed up at the bar again about an hour before the doors opened to customers. Sugar, her friend and favorite bartender, walked in right after her and started prepping the bar for the busy night ahead. "Hey, Sugar! How was your vacation?! We definitely missed you here this past week…so did our customers."

"Hi, Bosslady! It was amazing! Beaches and hot guys all week! I was sad to leave, but I'm actually glad to be back here. I missed you and Puck. Your crazy asses are the only ones who really get me," Sugar says as she shoots Santana a goofy grin.

"I still don't understand why you work here. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you do! But we both know you definitely do NOT need this job. Or any job for that matter."

"It's fun and I get to work with two of my favorite people! Plus, it keeps me busy. I get too bored when I don't have anything to do. You're stuck with me, little lady!"

Santana chuckles and says "Good, because I wasn't planning on letting you go anywhere any time soon." Santana unlocks the front door to let a couple more bartenders in for their shifts and shortly after, the first patrons of the night start trickling in.

Brittany had just finished getting ready when Tina texted her saying they had just pulled up outside Britt's apartment. She makes her way down to the car and they head over to the bar. As soon as they walk in, the guys go to the bar to grab some drinks while the girls try to find an open table. They manage to find the last unoccupied booth and quickly claim it for themselves. Mike and Sam join them and hand the girls a couple mixed drinks.

Brittany looks around the bar and then back to her group of friends. "I've never been here before, but it seems like a really good bar!"

Mike and Tina smile and nod their heads while Sam says "I come here pretty often. My buddy, Puck, is one of the owners of this place. They always have good music playing and the bartenders make the best drinks!"

"Let's get our dance on!" shouts Mike as a song with good beat starts playing.

The four of them head out onto the dance floor, Tina and Mike pairing up, which leaves Brittany and Sam left to pair off. They all dance for quite a while before Sam decides to call it a night and head home. Brittany heads to the bar while Tina and Mike take a breather at their table. When Brittany reaches the bar, she waits for the bartender to turn around so she can order another drink. The bartender turns to face her and instantly sports a genuine smile.

"Hi, Dr. Pierce!" yells Sugar over the loud music. "What can I get you?"

"Hi, Sugar! Fancy seeing you here! I didn't know you are a bartender. Can I get a Stoli Around the World, please?"

"Yeah, well, my friends own this place so I figured it'd be cool to work here and meet new people! One Stoli Around the World coming right up!"

As Brittany waits for Sugar to finish making her drink, she watches another bartender being taught how to make a drink by who she assumes to be either the manager or other owner, based on the fact that she isn't wearing the same uniform that Sugar and the other bartenders have on. The manager/owner looks up and Brittany's breath catches in her throat. This woman is the most beautiful woman Brittany has ever laid eyes on. Just as the woman finishes up with the other bartender, Sugar slides her drink towards her and follows her line of sight. Sugar smirks knowingly as Brittany quickly averts her eyes down to her drink. "Ah, haha," Sugar deadpans, "Santana must be having a blast teaching the newbie how to make our signature drinks!" At Brittany's confused look, Sugar explains "Santana, the Latina one, is my friend/co-owner of this bar. She hates having to teach newbies. They've already been through training, so if she has to help them once they get behind the bar, it's usually because they can't retain anything. Normally I get stuck re-training them."

"Ohh, I see. Well, good luck! And thanks for the drink! Make sure to give all your babies hugs from me when you get home! Haha."

"Will do, Dr. Pierce! See ya!"

Brittany makes her way back to the table and sees another blonde sitting with Mike and Tina.

"Britt, this is Kitty, we graduated college together. Kitty, this is Brittany, my friend and new boss!" introduces Tina.

"Nice to meet you," Brittany and Kitty say at the same time, making them smile at each other.

Brittany turns to Mike and asks, "Wanna dance while these two catch up?"

"Sure!" Mike says before leaning over to kiss Tina on the cheek and then slipping out of the booth. The pair push their way back onto the dance floor and start showing off what they're capable of doing.

Santana is currently trying to rein in the vicious insults she's about to unleash on this incompetent newbie. Seriously, if he can't even make a damn Screwdriver, he certainly is not going to last long behind the bar of her establishment. She grabs Sugar as she's walking by and tells her that she can't deal with the newbie any longer so she's got training duty for the rest of the night. If Sugar can't straighten this guy out by the end of the weekend, he's getting fired.

Santana moves over to the side of the bar to pour herself a shot. After she downs that, she looks over the crowd of the packed dance floor and notices a little circle forming. At first, she gets worried, thinking a fight is about to break out, but then sees that the attention is just on a couple dancers. A tall, Asian guy is facing her and he's dancing with a tall, fit blonde woman. That's the most she can tell of her at the moment because her back is turned to her. As they dance, the pair manage to turn themselves around, so now the blonde is facing Santana. The Latina's jaw drops when she finally sees the blonde's face. She is the most stunning woman Santana has ever seen. Even with the distance between them, she can clearly see the blonde's piercing blue eyes. She watches the woman dance through the rest of the song and the next and is convinced she is the sexiest woman alive. Santana sees her say something to the Asian guy and then start walking over to the bar. Her heart starts racing and she can't help but freak out at her own reaction to this woman. She sneaks into the back and watches as the blonde speaks to Sugar, apparently closing out her tab, and then disappears into the crowd.

Once she's back in her office, Santana distracts herself with some paperwork until she sees Puck plop down into the chair across from her.

"Wanna tell me what that was all about out there?" he asks.

"What, our new idiotic bartender? I swear to god, Puck, if he can't get his shit together, he's outta here."

"That's good to know, but I meant after you passed him off to Sugar. I saw you eying up that sexy blonde. I also saw you duck back here as soon as she started walking towards the bar. The old Santana would've made it a point to be the one to take care of her as soon as she reached the bar. So like I said before, what was that about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was surveying the crowd to see if it was under control so I could pop back here and get some work done. And what the hell are you talking about, 'the old Santana'?"

Puck just sighs and rubs his hand over his face, knowing that what he's about to say probably isn't going to end well. "The old Santana: the one who was either in a relationship, or when single, would pick up even more girls than me! I'm not saying you have to go back to that, but I know you were attracted to the blonde chick tonight, yet you ran in back instead of doing anything about it."

Defensively, Santana snaps, "Sorry if I don't want to whore myself out like a little slut. We aren't in college anymore, Puck. I don't see a problem with not wanting to have one night stands left and right."

Puck knows he's treading on thin ice here, but he continues because he's been waiting for the right time to bring this up and decides now is as good as ever. "You know, you can't keep going on like this. I wouldn't be as worried if you were at least playing the field a bit, but I haven't even seen you bring a girl home in months, let alone actually go on a date. I know it's not from lack of offers based on how many times a night you get hit on here. You need to put yourself out there again. I know you got burned in your last relationship, but not every girl is like…"

"Don't you dare even say her name, Noah. You know talking about her is off limits," Santana interrupts before he can finish his sentence.

After a few moments of silence, Puck softens his voice and chooses his next words carefully. "San, I'm sorry. I just worry about you. I haven't seen you truly happy in a long time and it sucks. You are such an amazing person once you let your walls down. It scares me to think that you won't allow anyone else to see that side of you. You deserve so much and have so much to offer. Please just say you'll try. It doesn't have to be anything drastic…just take baby steps. I just want to see you happy again."

Santana looks up at Puck with tears in her eyes. He quickly moves around the desk and scoops her up into a tight hug. She's quick to snuggle into him, whispering, "I don't know if I'll ever be ready to let someone else in." He holds her tighter and whispers back, "When you find the right woman, she'll find a way around your walls and into your heart. You just have to let her stay there."

They embrace each other for a few more moments before Santana pulls back and composes herself. "Thanks Puck...for everything."

He smiles. "Anytime, my lovely Latina. And I know, if I tell anyone you aren't as big of a badass as they think you are, you'll go all Lima Heights on my ass!"

This earns him a laugh and a slap on the arm. "Damn straight! Alright, enough of this sappy shit. It's closing time. Let's clean up so we can get out of here before dawn!"

Apparently everyone is in the same mindset, because they all work quickly to clean up the place and before they know it, everyone is heading out the door. Only Santana, Puck, and Sugar are left. Puck and Sugar are restocking the bar while Santana takes the last trash bag out to the dumpster. As soon as she turns around to go back inside, she catches some movement in the corner of her eye. She looks over and sees the little puppy from this morning. She quickly crouches down and calls the puppy over to her. Once the pup is in reach, she scoops it up before it can be spooked off again. "C'mon, stinky, let's get you inside."

Santana carries the dog inside, only to hear a loud squeal from Sugar once she sees what Santana has in her arms.

"No way! Is this the same dog from this morning?" asks Puck.

"Yup! He or she came back!" Santana says, smiling.

"What are you going to do with it?" Sugar asks as she coos over the excited puppy.

Santana lets her hold the dog and says, "I don't know. You have tons of animals, why don't you take it home?"

"Aww, I wish! Daddy says no more animals in the house. He's already had to build an extra wing onto the house for them AND hire extra people just to take care of them. He said if I bring any more home, he's getting rid of all of them!" Sugar says as she gives the puppy some water.

Santana looks over at Puck. "Okay, what about you? Want a dog?"

"I'd love one, but we aren't allowed to have dogs at my apartment complex. Why don't you just keep it? You're the one who found it."

"I can't keep it! I've never taken care of a puppy before. I wouldn't even know how to train it or anything! It needs a bath and food and a leash and toys…I don't have any of that stuff!"

Sugar smiles at her. "I have everything you need! Follow me home and I'll get you set up with everything you need right now!"

Santana looks down at the puppy, who had settled at her feet sometime during this conversation, and bends over to pick it up.

Santana finally makes it home with the puppy, who's now wearing a hand-me-down collar and leash, and a bag full of food, dog shampoo, a few toys, and the contact info for the Veterinarian Sugar brings her animals to. She lets the dog off the leash in the kitchen and sets up the food and water bowls. The dog immediately digs in and Santana can't help but wonder when the last time was that this dog had real dog food instead of scraps from the trash. It's a little bit underweight, but Sugar had assured her that with regular feedings, it would add the necessary weight back on in no time. Since she hasn't been able to think of a name for the dog yet, Santana just decides to call it "Puppy" or "Pup" for now. She gently gives the puppy a thorough bath, washing all the nasty grime from the alley out of its fur, before towel drying it and jumping in the shower herself. Once that's done, Santana brings the puppy outside one more time, hoping that by doing so, it won't have any accidents overnight. She brings the puppy into her bedroom and closes the door, not wanting it to have full access to her apartment just yet, and checks to see if there is anything dangerous left out for the pup to get in to. Santana then plops the puppy on the bed and climbs under the covers. She makes a mental note to call the Vet in the morning to schedule a check-up. The puppy snuggles up to her and they both fall asleep quickly.

A/N: I know, I know…there wasn't any real Brittana interaction this chapter. I promise that'll change for Chapter 2 so just bear with me! lol


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Saturday…_

Santana wakes up and immediately notices the puppy is no longer on her bed with her. She quickly scans the room for the dog, and any messes, and is relieved to find her floor void of any accidents. However, she is NOT happy to see two of her favorite pairs of flip-flops all chewed up. Before she can yell at the puppy, she sees it start sniffing around, a telltale sign of needing to relieve itself – according to Sugar – so she jumps out of bed and asks the puppy if it wants to go out. She grabs the leash and rushes the puppy out the door, onto the grass in the front yard. As soon as the puppy does its business, Santana praises the heck out of it…another tip from Sugar. She brings the puppy back inside and gives it some breakfast, then calls the Vet to set up a new patient appointment.

"Thank you for calling Dr. Pierce's Veterinary Clinic, my name is Tina, how may I help you?" a woman answers.

"Umm, hi. I found a puppy last night outside of my work and was calling to set up an appointment for a check-up or shots or something. I really don't know what it needs to have done."

"Not a problem. Dr. Pierce has an open spot today at 3pm, if that works for you."

"Sure, that'd be fine. Thank you."

"Perfect. What name should I put it under?"

"Well, the puppy is still nameless, so I guess mine for now. Santana Lopez."

"Okay Ms. Lopez, we'll see you and your puppy in a little bit then."

"Thank you. See you then." Santana says before she hangs up.

"Well, Little One," Santana says, kneeling down and addressing the puppy "it looks like you have your first doctor's appointment today…please don't hate me afterward!" The puppy bounds over and gives her kisses. She picks it up and heads toward her bedroom to change out of her pjs and get ready for the day.

Santana walks in to her room and is reminded of the puppy's destructive ways overnight when she sees the chewed up flip-flops on the floor. "I'm still mad at you for this!" she says, giving the pup a stern look and pointing at the ground. "Those were my two favorite pairs!" The dog just yips at her and licks her cheek. Santana can't stop the huge grin from forming on her face. "Ugh, you're lucky you're so cute!"

"What's on the agenda for this afternoon, Tina?" Brittany asks while they are sitting down for lunch.

"Just the usual, check-ups and nail clippings. One appointment to check on the stitches of a dog you performed surgery on last week. Oh, and a new patient examination for a puppy at 3pm. That's our last appointment of the day. A woman called this morning saying she found it outside her work last night."

"Aww, a stray. Hopefully this woman plans on keeping it. Probably will if she's already calling for an appointment here instead of just taking it to a shelter or something."

Brittany and Tina finish up lunch and tend to the next few patients. Before they know it, it's 3pm and they are prepping the exam room for the new patient's appointment. The bell above the front door dings, letting them know someone has arrived. Tina goes out front to greet them while Brittany sets up the last of the instruments she'll be using during the exam.

"Hi! Welcome to Dr. Pierce's Veterinary Clinic!" greets Tina when she sees the attractive brunette holding a puppy in the waiting area. "You must be Santana. I'm Tina. We spoke on the phone earlier."

"Hi. Yes, that's me" Santana says with a smile. "And this little one still remains nameless."

"Don't worry about finding a name just yet. It'll come to you at the most random time. C'mon in back, Dr. Pierce is just finishing setting up the room for the exam."

Santana nods her head and follows Tina. She's expecting to meet an old, balding guy who's been running this practice for the past few decades. Instead, she's pleasantly surprised to see the back of a tall, blonde haired woman. When said doctor turns around, there's a brief moment where both women freeze in their spots, an action that does not go unnoticed by Tina. Standing in front of Santana is the sexy blonde dancer from the bar last night. The doctor recovers quicker than Santana, offering up a handshake and a greeting.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Pierce. I'm glad you chose our clinic for your puppy's care."

Santana feels a spark as soon as her hand makes contact with the doctor's and wonders if she felt the same thing. Based on the semi-surprised look on her face and a glance down to their still-joined hands, Santana thinks it's safe to say she did.

"H-hi. I'm Santana. I found this puppy late last night so I took it home. My friend, Sugar Motta, recommended you as a Vet, sooo here we are."

"Ahh Sugar. She's a sweetheart. A little...easily excited haha but one of my favorite patient parents."

At Santana's confused look, Brittany elaborates, "I don't really like the term 'owners' so I just call them 'parents' instead." Brittany says with a wink.

Blushing, Santana giggles. "Ohh. That's actually pretty cute."

Now it's Brittany's turn to blush. Tina isn't quite sure what's going on here, but she's definitely enjoying this interaction. She's also certainly going to question Brittany about it as soon as they're done with Santana's puppy. She wants to stay and see if anything else unusual happens during this visit, but she hears the front door ding again so she leaves to go see who just arrived.

Getting back into doctor mode, Brittany says "Okay, let's see what we have here..." as she takes the puppy from Santana and places it on the exam table."Well first off, I can tell you 'it' is a girl. I'd say about 4 months old and obviously a mixed breed. Based on her build and fur tones, I'm guessing she's mainly Retriever with Border Collie and some German Shepard mixed in. I'm going to check her for a microchip. If she doesn't have one, you'll be allowed to keep her, unless someone reports her missing. She's very clean, so she might have just wandered off yesterday afternoon and someone is looking for her."

"Okay." Santana agrees as Brittany starts scanning over the puppy for an implanted chip. Santana secretly hopes she doesn't find one. "She was actually really dirty and hungry when I found her. I gave her a bath after I brought her home so she was clean when we went to bed. I also saw her earlier yesterday morning, but she had gotten spooked off before I could catch her."

"Hmm...maybe she's been loose for a while then. She does seem underweight. Good news is, she'll gain it back in no time with regular meals. More good news, for you, is that I didn't find a chip anywhere. After her exam, you'll be able to take her home with you." Brittany explains to her, much to Santana's delight. "I do want to inform you though, this type of mixed breed requires a lot of exercise or they'll get destructive around the house simply due to sheer boredom. Before you decide to keep her, you have to decide if you can fulfill that type of commitment."

"That won't be a problem. I go running every morning and there's a little dog park not too far from my apartment. She'll be pooped by the time we go to bed!"

"Hmm, I shoulda known." Brittany says quietly...but not quiet enough.

"Should've known what?" asks Santana.

"Oh umm..." not being able to think of a lie, Brittany gives in and continues "...I should have known you are a runner. Your body is very...toned...like a runner..." Brittany sputters out, flushing an even deeper red. "I mean!...I run too, so I know which muscles get a good workout and stuff."

Santana smiles at how flustered Brittany has become. She decides to give her a break and cut in before Brittany has an anxiety attack or something. "Thank you. I think it'll be nice to have a dog to run with. She'll be my motivation to run on the days where I don't really feel like doing so. Don't want her destroying anything else of mine. She already ruined my two favorite pairs of flip-flops, even though Sugar had given me chew toys for her. OH! ROXY! That's what I'm going to name her! Roxy, because she is so fond of Roxy flip-flops!"

Brittany laughs at Santana's sudden outburst mid-ramble. "That's a cute name. And it clearly fits her." She finished up Roxy's exam, running a couple tests and giving her a few shots. Before leaving, she set up a date a couple months in the future for Roxy to get spayed.

When they're ready to head out, Brittany checks the waiting area for other animals and gives Santana the go-ahead to bring Roxy out of the exam room.

"Thank you for everything Dr. Pierce. I'm really glad Sugar recommended you. I can tell Roxy will be in good hands whenever she's here." Santana compliments the Veterinarian, impressed with how she handled the first appointment.

"Please, call me Brittany" the blonde says as her cheeks once again sport a pink tint. "I'm glad you took Sugar's advice too." She says with a smile. "Don't forget to bring Roxy with you on your runs" the doctor says while subtly glancing over Santana's body.

The Latina manages to catch the doctor's wandering eyes and ducks her head. "I'll make sure to do that. See you in a couple months."

"Bye Santana. Feel free to call here if you have any questions on how to care for Roxy."

"Thank you. Again haha. Bye, Brittany."

With that, Santana leaves the office and heads back to her apartment, but not before stopping to pick up a crate to put Roxy in during her shift at the bar tonight.

"What the hell was that, Britt?!"

"What was what?"

"'Please, call me Brittany.'" mocks Tina. "You were just telling me that our titles are for the parents to use. Santana here is the only person I've heard you give permission to call you Brittany. Also, don't think I didn't see that little moment you two had when she and I first walked in! What was that all about?"

"Ugh, so you know the sexy Latina I was telling you about last night? The one who co-owns Pucktana's? Well…"

"Shut up! That was not her!"

"Yeah…it was."

"Holy crap, Britt! Why didn't you say something to her?!"

"Tina, I can't do that here! I am her puppy's doctor. I can't be hitting on her when I'm supposed to be professional. That's unethical."

"Okay, I guess I can give you that. But you ARE aware that Pucktana's is totally going to be our new hangout spot when we go out, right?"

"No! She'll think I'm some sort of stalker!" Brittany cries out.

"Did Santana mention owning Pucktana's during the appointment just now?" reasons Tina.

"Well, no…"

"It's settled then. Besides, you could have decided last night to frequent that bar since you already knew Santana works there. The fact that her puppy is now a patient here has nothing to do with this decision. We should go there again tonight!"

"No! That would be weird. What if she recognizes our group from last night? Or what if Sugar mentions that we were there last night? I really would seem like a stalker then."

Tina thinks for a moment. "Now that you mention it, Britt, Santana very well may have recognized you. As soon as you turned around to greet her, she froze up just like you did. Maybe you caught her eye last night! That would explain her having the same reaction as you!" At this revelation, Tina lets out a loud squeal.

"Tina, we don't even know if she's gay."

"Oh please, you had her blushing and giggling during the visit. There's definitely somethinggg there."

"I guess only time will tell," the blonde concedes. "C'mon, let's finish up and head out since Santana and Roxy were our last appointment."

 _Later that night…_

"Puck, I have a problem…" Santana says as soon as he walks through the door to help her set up for the night.

"You got 99 problems, but a chick ain't one," Puck laughs at his own corny joke.

"Actually…"

"Wait. Really?!"

"Yeah, man. You know that blonde woman from last night who I may or may not have had a slight attraction to?"

"You mean the sexy dancer who scared you into hiding in the back instead of possibly striking up a conversation with her? What about her?"

"Whatever. Not the point, jackass. Well, Sugar recommended her Vet to me for Roxy, the puppy from the alley. Turns out…sexy, blonde dancer has a day job as a Veterinarian and Roxy is her newest patient."

"Shut. Up! No way! Dude, this is awesome! Now you can get to know her better and see if it leads to something!" Puck says, clearly more excited about this situation than Santana was.

"I don't even know if she's gay. And even if she is, I already told you I'm still not ready to start a new relationship. Besides, I have Roxy now so she'll be taking up my free time."

"Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses."

"Shut up, Puck. It's time to open so this conversation is officially dropped."

For the rest of the night, Santana kept catching herself scanning the bar, secretly hoping that every head of blonde hair she saw would end up being Brittany. Unfortunately, she didn't show up. Santana wasn't all that surprised. She wasn't even sure if Brittany knew where she worked. She thinks the doctor might have recognized her, because she did see her hesitate when they first met today, but that could also be wishful thinking. So for now, Santana just has the appointment a couple months from now to look forward to…and the hope that Brittany would happen to stop by the bar again sometime before then.

Once again, the last two people left cleaning up the bar are Santana and Sugar. As they finish drying the freshly washed glasses, Santana breaks their comfortable silence.

"Thank you again for setting me up with all the necessary supplies to take care of Roxy last night. I really appreciate that. And thanks for recommending Brittany, too. She seems really good at what she does and is super nice. Definitely not what I was expecting when I walked in there today."

"Aww, you're welcome hun. I figured it was the least I could do since I couldn't actually take her home to my place. Who's Brittany though?"

"Umm, the veterinarian you recommended to me. You said you bring all your animals to see her. She knew who you were when I mentioned you told me to set up an appointment with her."

"Oh! You mean Dr. Pierce! I've been going to her since she opened her practice. She never told me her first name. Now that I think of it, I've never heard anyone else call her anything other than Dr. Pierce."

"Really? At the end of Roxy's appointment, I addressed her as Dr. Pierce and she told me to call her Brittany."

"Hmm, weird. Actually, considering it's you, I guess it's really not that surprising." Sugar blurts out.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Santana asks, now very intrigued as to where this conversation is headed.

"Dr. Pierce...BRITTANYYY...was totally checking you out last night when you were training the newbie behind the bar."

"No she wasn't…" Santana says, but Sugar can see in her eyes that she wants it to be true.

"San, I can assure you, she couldn't take her eyes off you until I caught her staring. Only then did she turn away and go back to her friends."

"Well, even if she was staring, it could have been a completely innocent act of people watching. It doesn't automatically mean she's interested. You didn't even know her first name before just now…you can't possibly know her sexual orientation."

Sugar opens her mouth to reply, but Santana cuts her off.

"Let's call it a night. Anything left to do can be tended to tomorrow…when I'm not here. Besides, I have a puppy to get home to!" Santana says with a grin.

The two friends grab their things, lock up, and make their way to their cars to finally go home.

Santana unlocks her front door, grabbing Roxy's collar and leash as she walks over to her crate.

"Hey girl! Did you miss me?! I bet you gotta go pee-pee, huh?!"

Roxy starts barking and furiously wagging her tail as Santana hooks her collar back on her and leads her to the front door. Once Roxy relieves herself and they are back inside, Santana takes a quick shower, then completely puppy-proofs her bedroom. After she makes sure there is absolutely nothing Roxy can destroy overnight, she climbs in bed with the little pup to get her snuggle on.

Before they fall asleep, Santana looks down at the little mutt who has already wiggled her way into her heart.

"Sleep tight, love. Tomorrow, we'll see just how much exercise it takes to wipe you out. Hopefully I can keep up with you." Santana says softly before leaning down to give Roxy a quick kiss on the head. The pup just snuggles closer, and soon enough, both of them drift off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Sunday…_

Santana wakes up to the sound of a whining puppy. She groans and rolls over, shoving her face deeper into her pillow, but Roxy is having none of it as she decides to jump on Santana and start licking her face. Santana gives a half grumble, half giggle as she pushes the puppy off her and climbs out of bed. Happy to see no further destruction of her property, Santana leaves the bedroom with Roxy following close behind. She grabs the pup's leash and takes her out before she has a morning accident. Once they're back inside, Santana gives Roxy a little treat, holding off on her breakfast so she doesn't get sick during the run they're going on shortly. Santana heads back to her room to change into a red sports bra, a pair of white and red running shorts, and her running shoes. She quickly throws her hair up in a tight pony and heads back out to find Roxy. She hooks the little one up to a newly purchased harness, grabs a bottle of water, and starts walking toward a nearby park which is home to her favorite running trail. As soon as they get to the trail, Santana stops to stretch. Roxy wanders as far as her leash allows, smelling everything she possibly can before coming back to stand beside Santana, barking excitedly at her. Santana grins widely and asks the pup, "You ready?!"

They start off at a steady pace and Santana can already tell this dog will have no problem keeping up with her. A few minutes into the run, they pass a fork in the trail and Santana sees a flash of blonde hair as they almost collide with another runner. Santana looks to the side, offering an apology just as she hears the other runner apologizing as well. She recognizes the voice at the same time as she lays eyes on the other runner, causing her to stop in her tracks. Roxy gives a little yip and moves over to greet the blonde.

"Brittany…" the brunette breathes out, not believing she'd run into the veterinarian, of all people. She can't help but look over the blonde's toned body and think that her doctor's coat should be burned for hiding such a delicious body. Brittany is wearing a blue sports bra with matching running shorts and Santana doesn't take her eyes off her until Brittany starts talking. Both women are so caught up drinking in the sight of the other that they are completely unaware that they are being checked out as well.

"Hey, Santana. And hello, Roxy!" Brittany finally says while crouching down so the pup can give her kisses. Standing back up, Brittany looks at Santana, "I'm glad to see you have already started bringing her along on your runs. Seeing as how she's not panting and you aren't sweating, would it be safe to assume you just started your run?"

"I gotta make sure she gets her energy out. She sure had fun jumping on me to wake me up this morning," Santana says with a laugh, "and yes, we just got here a few minutes ago. I see you're in the same state as us so you've either got really good endurance or you just started as well."

"Well, I dooo have really good endurance," Brittany says while giving the brunette a little wink, "but I actually just started my run, too."

Santana starts blushing and isn't quite sure how to respond to that. She doesn't have to worry about a response though because a second later, Brittany continues speaking. "Since we both just started our runs, do you want to continue the trail together? I promise to not go too fast for you," the blonde teases.

"Oh please, I run this trail every day. You'll be the one trying to keep up with me!" Santana says as her competitive side starts to show.

The trio start running again and both Santana and Brittany are pleased to find out that they apparently like to run at the same pace. During their almost hour long run, the women get to know each other a little better. Brittany talks about her time in college, changing majors from Pre-Med to Veterinary Studies, and the most memorable patients she's encountered since starting her practice. Santana tells Brittany that she majored in Business and then talks about how she and Puck decided to open Pucktana's and the craziest situations she's had to deal with while working at the bar. Conversation flows easily between the two and both women can't help but think about how they seem to have instantly clicked. They mention how they both thought it was odd to run into each other on this trail, but then learn that they actually live only a couple blocks away from each other (and this park), so it turns out to not be such a weird coincidence. As they near the end of the trail, they decide to use the distance from there to Brittany's house as their warm down since it's on the way home for Santana and Roxy anyway. They're one street away from Brittany's house when Roxy cuts in front of Santana in an attempt to chase after a cat she saw across the street. Santana trips over her, only just managing to catch herself on the back of a bench they happened to be passing by, but the damage of a twisted ankle is already done. She hisses as she tries to apply pressure to her left foot. Brittany helps her to sit down on the bench and proceeds to take Roxy's leash from Santana, holding tightly in case she tries to run off again.

"How bad does your ankle hurt?" Brittany asks, noticing Santana wincing as she tries to stretch the injured area and work it out so she can finish walking back to her place.

"It's not that bad," Santana lies, trying to sound tough. "It'll probably work itself out in a few minutes. You don't have to stay here if you have things to do. I'm sure I'll be fine," she says as she's already thinking of calling Puck or Sugar to come pick her up and bring her the rest of the way home.

"Not a chance, sweetie," the blonde replies. "I can tell it's hurting you more than you're admitting. C'mon, I'll help you back to my place and take a look at it. I may be an animal doctor, but don't forget…I started off my college career learning to treat humans," she says, trying to convince the other woman to let her take care of her. Santana is about to decline the offer, not wanting to look weak in front of the beautiful blonde, but decides against it as soon as Brittany's face changes into a stern look, arched eyebrow and all.

"Okay, okay. Ugh, help me up?" Santana asks, sounding a little defeated.

They quickly realize that Santana can't put much pressure at all on her injured ankle, so Brittany brings Santana's arm around her neck while she puts an arm around the smaller woman's waist to support her. The fact that they fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces, does not go unnoticed by either woman. They slowly make their way to Brittany's house and upon seeing it, Santana blurts out, "Wow, it's huge," to which Brittany mumbles, "That's what she said." Santana slaps Brittany's arm as a laugh escapes her and the blonde grins cheekily as they make their way inside. She guides Santana over to her couch, telling her to take her sneaker and sock off while she goes to grab an ice pack from the freezer. Brittany returns to see Santana still wearing both sneakers.

"Why didn't you take your shoe off?" the blonde questions.

"I'm all sweaty and gross from our run…my feet probably smell," Santana frowns.

Brittany laughs at this but Santana just frowns even harder.

"You do realize I work with animals, right. I have to deal with smelly stuff often at work, I'm not scared of your foot," the doctor tries to reassure her.

"I'm just gunna call one of my friends to come pick me up. If it's still bothering me after I shower, I'll call my regular doctor tomorrow and have her check it out," Santana says stubbornly.

Brittany smiles softly at her. "You're adorable. How about you just shower here? I have two bathrooms. You can use the one down here while I use the upstairs one, and when we're both freshened up, I'll see what I can do about your ankle. Does that sound okay?"

Santana looks up at her and hesitantly replies, "I guess that'd be okay. Unless you have other plans today and I'm interrupting you."

"Seriously, it's fine. I had no plans for the day anyway so I'm all yours," Brittany informs her.

Hearing that the beautiful blonde is "all hers" gives the Latina butterflies, which she quickly pushes away, saying, "If you're sure…"

Brittany helps her into the bathroom, sets up her towels, then leaves to go get her some clean clothes. She returns with the clothes and a pair of crutches.

"The crutches are just in case you finish in here before me. You can just meet me back in the living room. When you're done, leave your clothes in here. I'll take care of them after since you won't be able to carry them if you're using the crutches. Are you gunna be good in here or…" the blonde trails off, not knowing if she'd be able to handle it if she had to help the gorgeous Latina get in or out of the shower.

"I'll be fine. Thank you though…for everything."

"Don't mention it. I'm gunna head upstairs and jump in the shower, too. I'll see you in a little bit," Brittany says as she starts the water for Santana, then closes the bathroom door behind her as she leaves.

Brittany finishes her shower first so she goes to the living room to wait for Santana to join her again. She finally hears the sound of crutches coming down the hallway and looks up just as Santana hobbles through the doorway. Brittany's breath catches in her throat as she takes in the natural beauty of Santana standing there in her clothes. She definitely likes what she sees and gives herself a mental pat on the back for hastily grabbing a pair very short shorts and her favorite long sleeve tee from college for Santana to wear. Santana makes her way over to the couch and plops down onto it, sliding the crutches off to the side. Brittany gets up and sits on the coffee table directly across from her.

"Okay, no excuses now…let me see that ankle. I can already tell just by looking at it that it is swollen."

Santana lifts her foot up and rests it in Brittany's lap so she can examine it. Brittany gently moves the Latina's foot back and forth to stretch out the muscles, holding her foot as though it was the most precious and fragile thing in the world. She pokes and prods around Santana's ankle and foot, apologizing whenever the brunette groans in pain.

"Do you want the good news or bad news first?"

"Umm, bad news." 

"Well, the bad news is that it looks like it is gunna hurt like a bitch for a few days. I recommend staying off it and keeping it elevated as much as possible…no extended periods of walking on it and definitely no running until it doesn't hurt to walk for at least a few days."

"And the good news...?"

"The good news is that nothing is broken. It looks like just a sprain, based on the swelling and bruising that's already forming. More good news...you're stuck with me all afternoon so I can make sure you ice it properly!" Brittany exclaims, earning a playful eye-roll from the Latina. "I'll go get the ice pack again; you just sit back and relax."

The blonde returns a few moments later with some Advil, a glass of water, an ice pack, and a towel to wrap it in so Santana doesn't have to put it directly on her skin. Santana takes the pain medication as Brittany sits down on the end of the couch and gently grabs the brunette's calf to slowly turn her so she's now lying across the couch with her foot once again on Brittany's lap. She wraps the extra large ice pack, clearly made for athletes, in the towel and wraps that all the way around Santana's ankle. Brittany then places a pillow on her lap and gently lowers Santana's foot down onto it, making sure it's properly elevated.

"Okay now, little lady, 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off!"

"What?! It's already feeling super cold and it's only been on for like a minute so far!" grumbles the injured woman.

Brittany chuckles and says, "It'll go numb soon and you won't feel a thing, trust me."

Santana does trust her. And that scares the Latina. She's not one to trust quickly or easily, but there's just something about the woman taking care of her that screams trustworthy. She can tell that Brittany is a genuinely good person, but it still scares her to know that the blonde is already starting to break down her walls.

"Well, I guess doctor knows best, huh?"

The blonde just smiles at her and Santana instantly returns the gesture. They stay like that for a few moments, simply lost in each other's gaze, until Santana realizes the atmosphere around her is quieter than it's been all weekend.

"Uhh, where's Roxy? I've already learned that it's normally a bad thing when she's this quiet."

Brittany laughs and says, "Don't worry, she's all tuckered out from our run." She points to the corner of the room where Roxy and her cat are snuggled up together on the pet bed. "Look, she even made a new friend!"

Santana looks over and her eyes bulge out when she sees the size of Brittany's cat. "Damn Britt, your cat is as big as Roxy!"

Brittany smiles wide at the nickname, sure that Santana didn't even realize her slip-up.

"That's Lord Tubbington, or LT for short."

Santana just giggles at the name, but then a frown forms on her face as she continues looking at their sleeping pets. Brittany sees this and becomes worried.

"Hey, what's the matter?" she asks softly.

Santana turns to her and sees nothing but concern in the blonde's eyes.

"Oh, I just feel bad because I still haven't given Roxy any breakfast. I was going to after she settled down from our run so she didn't get sick while we were on the trail. I should probably get her home, I suppose. She's already underweight…I don't want her skipping any meals."

"Nonsense. I can find something for her here."

"But you have a cat, who I'm guessing does not eat dog food."

"True, but I do have some leftover chicken and rice, without any seasoning, that I can heat up for her. I recommend that for sick dogs all the time because it won't further upset their stomach."

"Eww, completely plain chicken and rice? How can you eat it like that?" the Latina asks with a disgusted look on her face.

"I don't. My mother brought it over, but knows the seasoning I add depends on my mood, so she made it plain. I'll go heat it up for Roxy and wake her when it's ready."

"You really don't have to do that. I feel bad making you waste your leftovers on my dog."

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't in the mood for it today anyway, so it might as well get eaten by your dog as opposed to me having to eventually throw it out."

"Well, thank you. I appreciate that."

Brittany gets up, putting the pillow from her lap down where she was just sitting and adding another pillow on top of that before placing Santana's foot back on top of them.

"You're welcome. Now just stay here and I'll be back in a minute. The TV remote is right in front of you on the coffee table. Feel free to watch whatever you want."

Brittany returns a couple minutes later with a bowl of warmed up food for Roxy and finds Santana channel surfing. She calls the dog over and puts the bowl down for her, smiling as she sees the pup digging in. Having already eaten right before Brittany left for her run, LT remained slumbering on his bed. Brittany was about to sit back down with Santana, but before she could, her stomach started growling…loud enough to get a laugh out of the brunette.

"Ugh, I'm obviously hungry too. How about you? Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I haven't..."

"I'll whip us up some pancakes! I hope that's okay…it's pretty much the only thing I can cook without burning the house down," Brittany admits with a bashful look on her face.

"You don't have to actually cook anything for me. I'd be fine with like cereal or something. You've already done enough for me this morning," Santana says softly, starting to feel like a burden for the blonde.

"Hey," Brittany says just as softly, waiting until Santana looks in her eyes before she continues, "Please let me make you breakfast. I never get to take care of anyone outside of my office."

The sincere look in Brittany's bright blue eyes and in the tone of her voice breaks Santana, leading her to give in to the blonde. "Pancakes it is," she says with a small smile.

Brittany heads back into the kitchen and a little while later, she's placing a tray filled with pancakes, scrambled eggs, sliced fruit, milk, and some juice on the coffee table. The sight before her melts her heart and she's quick to pull her phone out to capture the adorableness of Santana sleeping on her couch with LT curled up on her lap and Roxy resting on her chest. She hates having to wake the beautiful brunette, but also knows that she should eat something so her body can have the energy to work on healing her ankle.

"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up," she says softly as she moves a strand of hair out of Santana's eyes.

The Latina's eyes slowly flutter open and a smile appears on her face as she sits up. "Mmm. Smells delicious. I can't even remember the last time someone cooked a breakfast like this for me. Thank you for going through all this trouble," the brunette says shyly.

"It's no trouble at all, honestly. I'm glad you're letting me do this for you. This is actually the best morning I've had in a while," Brittany says as a slight blush forms on her cheeks. She looks away and then laughs when she sees that Roxy and had gone back to snuggling on LT's bed. Santana follows her line of sight and smiles when she sees what Brittany was laughing at. She looks back at Brittany and catches the blonde staring at her now. Brittany clears her throat and once again looks away quickly. "You can take the ice pack off now for a bit. Here, put your foot up on the coffee table while we eat. You still need to keep it elevated," she says as Santana follows her instructions. Brittany hands Santana her plate of food and then starts in on her own. The women eat their breakfast in a comfortable silence, the TV set to some morning news talk show. When they're both finished, Brittany takes Santana's empty plate and brings the whole tray back into the kitchen.

Upon re-entering the living room, Brittany sets two bottles of water on the coffee table and asks, "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. You pick though. I always have trouble deciding what to watch. I'm up for anything but horror movies…it's still too early in the day for that," explains the Latina.

They end up watching three movies during the course of the afternoon, all of varying genres, with Brittany changing out Santana's ice pack at the appropriate times, leading the brunette to have conflicted feelings. On one hand, she finds herself enjoying being taken care of by this amazing blonde woman, but on the other hand, she doesn't like having to depend on others. She's used to being independent; not letting anyone get close enough to see her be vulnerable since her last relationship ended.

During the last movie, Santana drifts off to sleep. In her slumber, she shimmies over a bit to snuggle into the warm body next to her, resting her head on a soft shoulder. Brittany is briefly surprised by the unexpected contact, but settles down as soon as she hears Santana's deep, even breathing and realizes the woman is still asleep. She looks down at the Latina, taking in the soft features of her completely relaxed face. Brittany notices how peaceful Santana looks, and can't help but feel as though this is exactly what she's been waiting for. She can't think of a better way to spend her lazy Sunday than with this beautiful woman snuggled up to her on her couch, relaxing and watching movies. Brittany is broken out of her thoughts as she feels Santana start to stir, so she quickly averts her eyes back onto the TV screen to avoid being caught watching the woman sleep like some creeper. Still half asleep, Santana breathes in deeply while snuggling closer to Brittany, releasing a soft hum and gently nuzzling her face into the blonde's neck. Brittany feels Santana tense up as soon as she realizes what she's doing before quickly darting back into a sitting position next to the blonde.

"Uhh, sorry about that," Santana says sheepishly, "How long was I asleep?"

"Not that long, the movie is still on," Brittany replies. She can tell Santana's embarrassed, but doesn't quite know what there is to be embarrassed about. She takes an educated guess and assumes the Latina isn't usually much of a cuddler. At least not with people she's just recently met. She also goes as far as guessing that the Latina doesn't let people in easily or allow herself to be vulnerable in front of others, if her earlier actions throughout the day gave any indication to the brunette's typical personality. First, she tried to act tough when she was clearly in pain after twisting her ankle. Then, she was reluctant to let Brittany take care of her at all, whether it was examining her ankle or just making her breakfast. She wonders if Santana has always been super independent or if she became this way after being let down too many times.

"Okay, good," says the smaller woman.

Brittany looks over at Santana, studying her for a minute before Santana finally acknowledges her gaze.

"What?" the Latina asks with a slightly confused look on her face, unsure why the blue-eyed beauty is staring at her.

"Why do I get the feeling that you try to portray yourself as this super badass or something?" questions the blonde with a little smirk.

"That's because I totally am. You have no idea," Santana says, attempting a very serious face but failing as the corners of her lips twitch up in a slight smile.

"I find that hard to believe, seeing as how you have been nothing but adorable all day long."

"Pssh. I don't do 'adorable'…not even close! You just haven't seen me in my element," defends the feisty woman.

"Okayyy," the blonde says, clearly not convinced of Santana's claim of being a badass. "Do you wanna order something for dinner? Like I said before, pancakes are pretty much the only thing I can make, so unless you want those again, we'll have to order takeout. You're kinda stuck here until I decide to bring you home…and I don't feel like doing that just yet," Brittany says with a triumphant grin.

"Guess I don't really have a choice then, do I?" Santana replies with a grin of her own. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Hmm…I don't know yet. I usually just order from a place around the corner, Lombardi's. Have you ever ordered from there?"

"No, I've never even heard of that place. How is that possible when I live just as close as you do?"

"Haha I don't know. It's a little mom and pop place, but has a lot of regular customers so they do plenty of business. They have mostly Italian options, but also offer a variety of other foods as well. Wanna see the menu? I have one laying around here somewhere."

"Any chance they make a good pizza? If not, I'll have to take a look at the menu."

"They make the BEST three-cheese white pizza! Oh my god, that's totally what I'm getting now."

"Sounds good to me! Let's split one."

"Okay, let me call it in."

Santana's quiet while she calls in their order, kind of surprised when Brittany stays on the line longer than a normal call would take and chats a bit with the person on the other end. Before she ends the call, Brittany asks, "Can I also get a small, plain mixture of hamburger, scrambled eggs, and white rice? No seasonings though because it's for a hungry little puppy who's visiting and I don't have any dog food in the house."

She finishes the call and turns to Santana, only to be met with a look of awe on the tan woman's face.

"What?" the blonde asks.

"Nothing," Santana replies with a small smile on her face. The fact that Brittany even thought to order something for Roxy sends a feeling of warmth straight to Santana's heart. She can't believe how sweet this woman is. She doesn't make a big deal out of the addition to the order though, because she already knows that Brittany would just brush it off as no big deal.

Brittany doesn't question the look any further, instead just continuing with what she was originally going to say, "The food will be here in about 20 minutes. They usually deliver pretty quickly. I AM one of their best customers," she jokes.

During their wait time, Brittany takes Roxy out to relieve herself and then feeds LT. When the delivery guy shows up, Santana offers Brittany some cash, but Brittany refuses to take it. Knowing that Santana would be unable to follow quickly, the blonde runs to the door to pay and returns before Santana can even get situated on the crutches. She sees the scowl on Santana's face as she places the pizza box down on the coffee table and adds that as evidence to her theory that the brunette doesn't tend to let other people do things for her.

"C'mon, Grumpypants. Sit back down so we can eat!" Brittany says with an infectious smile on her face. "What do you want to drink?"

Santana's scowl falters when she sees the bright smile directed her way, "Water is fine. Thanks."

Brittany returns a moment later with a couple glasses of water, plates, napkins, and a bowl to put Roxy's food in. Once she takes care of Roxy, Santana and Brittany start eating their pizza.

"MMMMM!" Santana moans a little obscenely, "This is the BEST pizza I've ever had!"

Brittany has to calm herself after hearing Santana make that kind of noise. She takes a sip of her water, trying not to think about how she'd love to be the one making the Latina moan like that.

"I told you they make the best pizza," Brittany says smugly.

"Just so you know, I'm totally going to cook you dinner to make up for everything you've done for me today once my ankle is better. It'll be a nice change from takeout. I promise I'm an excellent cook!" Santana informs the blonde.

"I definitely won't object to that," Brittany says with a smile. She absolutely loves the idea of spending another night with Santana, just the two of them.

They finish eating, so Brittany wraps up the leftovers and puts them in the fridge. She comes back and sits on the couch, pulling Santana's leg onto her lap so she could remove the ice pack and check out her ankle again. She moves it around like she did earlier, testing out the mobility and tenderness.

"Well, most of the swelling has gone down, but it now has some pretty nasty bruising going on. I'd say one more round of ice on, ice off and you should be done with the ice pack."

"I gotta say, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was gunna be. You may or may not have been right about that," Santana admits.

"WAIT A MINUTE! HOLD THE PHONE! Did Ms. Lopez here just admit to being wrong?!" taunts the blonde.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it. Anywayyy," Santana says, changing the subject, "I didn't mention it earlier, but from what I can tell, you have a really nice house. Is it really as big on the inside as it looks from the outside?"

"Thank you. And yes, it really is pretty big. There are 4 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs; kitchen, living room, laundry room, den, and a bathroom downstairs. Big, fenced in backyard with a fire pit towards the back of the yard and a heated in-ground pool with a built-in hot tub on the side of it."

"Wow, that sounds amazing! Do you share the house with roommates or something?"

"Nope. It's just me and LT, and the occasional guest if a friend from out of town is visiting or something," Brittany says. Santana can practically hear the loneliness in her voice even though it's obvious to her that the blonde is trying to make it seem like it doesn't bother her.

Santana hesitates before asking, not sure if she's crossing a line here or not, "I don't mean to pry or anything, but why did you buy such a big house if it's just you living here?"

"I fell in love with this house when I was looking for a place in this area. I know it's a little big now since it's just me living here, but it'll be the perfect size once I'm married and have little ones running around. I didn't want to deal with having to find another place once our family starts to grow. Now I just need to find someone who loves this house as much as I do," Brittany explains while absentmindedly caressing Santana's shin.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. I haven't even seen the majority of it and already love it just from the description."

They sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Brittany breaks the peace and quiet.

"Okay, little lady," she says, patting Santana's shin, "One last round of ice…are you ready?!"

"Haha yes," chuckles the brunette.

Brittany grabs a new ice pack from the freezer and returns to her previous spot, keeping Santana's foot in her lap. She wraps the ice pack around the Latina's ankle again and they both lean back to relax for the next 30 minutes.

"I should probably call Sugar or Puck now to see if they're free to pick me up. They'd show up around the time I'd be able to take the ice off."

Brittany just scoffs at this, "Don't be silly. We already established the fact that you practically live right around the corner from me. There's no need to make one of your friends come all the way over here when I could probably bring you home and back before they'd even make it to my door."

"I don't want to be any more of a burden than I've already been today. It's fine, I'm sure neither of them would mind coming to get me. You've already done too much."

"If I've already done too much, then what's oneee more thing? Honestly, I'd be more comfortable knowing firsthand that you got home and settled in without any complications," Brittany says with the most sincere tone she can muster up. To lighten the serious atmosphere her confession just created, she finishes with, "You'll just have to make sure that dinner you're gunna cook me is the best meal I've ever had!"

With a big smile, Santana responds, "Okay, fine, you can bring me home. And I bet my cooking will be the best thing you've ever tasted! I definitely know my way around the kitchen!"

Brittany is really looking forward to this dinner. Not only to just spend more time with the stunning Latina, but if she's really as good of a cook as she claims to be, maybe she can teach Brittany a thing or two.

When the last half hour is up, Brittany gets up to grab Santana's clothes from their run and an ace bandage to wrap Santana's ankle in. She comes back and starts the task of tending to Santana's ankle for the final time. She tightly, but carefully, wraps her ankle up so the injured woman will have extra support when she does have to walk on it. Santana just sits there basking in the gentleness the other woman is offering her, a little disappointed that their time together is coming to an end. Once Brittany is done securing the bandage, she stands up and holds her hands out for Santana to take while she helps the Latina get up off the couch. Both women revel in the softness of the other woman's hands, not wanting to let go, but knowing if they hold on any longer, it would become awkward.

Santana tests out trying to put some pressure on her left foot and cringes at the pain that shoots through her ankle. It's nowhere near what she felt when she initially injured it this morning, but it is still an extremely unpleasant feeling. As soon as she sees Santana's reaction, Brittany takes up a similar stance to her earlier position, wrapping a supportive arm around the smaller woman.

Santana looks like she's about to reject her assistance, so Brittany cuts her off before she can say anything. "Oh just humor me for a little while longer. You've done a good job of it so far today, don't stop now," she says with such a caring tone that Santana doesn't even consider further refusing her help.

The women make their way out to Brittany's car with Roxy in tow. Brittany helps Santana into the passenger seat, placing the pup in her lap, and then moves around the car to climb into the driver's side. Santana gives the blonde directions back to her place and a few minutes later, they pull up to the apartment complex. Brittany quickly puts her car in park and hurries over to the other side of the car to open the door, take hold of Roxy's leash, and help Santana to her feet. On their way in, they stop to let Roxy pee one last time before bed. When they reach Santana's door, she unlocks it and they make their way inside. Brittany let's Roxy off her leash and Santana takes it from her to hook it on the wall next to the door.

"Do you want me to help you get settled into bed or something before I head out?" Brittany asks, ready to stay for as long as Santana needs her.

As much as Santana wants the taller woman to stick around a little longer, she also feels as though she needs some distance to try to get her thoughts in order. "Nah, I'll be alright. I think I'm just gunna watch some TV out here on the couch for a bit anyway. Thank you though. Really, I can't tell you enough how much today meant to me," the brunette says as her walls slip down just a little bit farther.

Brittany sends a warm smile toward the Latina, feeling as though even that statement is one that rarely leaves the other woman's lips. "I should be the one thanking you," Brittany says softly, "Aside from you getting hurt, today was the best day I've had in a long time."

Both women blush slightly upon hearing each other's sincere confession.

"I guess I should head out now if you're all set," blue eyes search brown ones, making sure there's no worry there about being left alone. Brittany swears she sees a flash of disappointment in Santana's gaze, but before she can get a better read on the shorter woman, the brunette averts her gaze away from the blonde, pretending to be checking on the whereabouts of her pup.

Knowing her time is up, at least for tonight, Brittany steps forward and closes the gap between herself and Santana, wrapping her arms around the Latina and hugging her tightly. The brunette feels herself melt into the embrace and hugs her back just as tight, sneaking a quick inhale of Brittany's scent before reluctantly pulling away from the taller woman. Both women feel an immediate loss as soon as they're no longer invading each other's personal space.

"Goodnight Santana," whispers the blonde.

"Goodnight," Santana whispers back, not wanting to break whatever kind of moment they're currently having.

With that, Brittany turns around and walks out the door, closing it softly behind her.

 **A/N: I obviously don't know much about ankle injuries. So regarding Santana's recovery: please just go with it ;) I wanted her to need Britt's help this whole chapter, but be off the crutches by the end of it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Monday…_

"Good morning, Tina! How are you on this fantastically wonderful day?!" greets Brittany as she enters the clinic.

"Okayyy, I'm used to you being cheerful in the morning, but you are like, extra cheerful today. What's got you even happier than normal?"

"Just had a REALLY good day off yesterday, that's all," Brittany replies with a beaming smile on her face.

"Are you gunna tell me about it or just leave me hanging?"

"Okay, okay. So, do you remember Santana, the sexy Latina who's our newest patient parent…and also the co-owner of Pucktana's?" the blonde asks.

"Of course I do. We just saw her and Roxy on Saturday," Tina reminds her. "What about her?"

"I kinda spent the whole day with her yesterday…" Brittany trails off.

"WHAT?! I'm sorry, I need a little more info to go on than that. How'd you meet up? What did you do? Wait, do I really wanna know what you two did? I saw you both eye-fucking each other hardcore Saturday afternoon."

"No, no, no! Nothing happened. Well, nothing like that. We pretty much just hung out all day," the blonde said.

Brittany recapped her day spent with Santana, telling Tina about Santana's injury, taking care of her, and her theory that Santana is very guarded and has a hard time letting people do nice things for her.

"Seriously Tina," the blonde continues, "this woman is adorable and stubborn and…and I just…ugh, I don't know. I really want to get to know her better. There's something special about her. I felt it when I hugged her goodbye. It was just a simple hug, but I know she felt something too. There was just this, energy, around us as we parted. I don't know."

"Jeeze, Britt, you've really got it bad for this chick, huh? I don't know if I've ever seen you THIS smitten after just meeting someone. I think this is great! When are you going to see her again?!"

"I'm not sure, but she did say she's going to cook me dinner once her ankle is healed up. So hopefully it won't be too long. I kinda forgot to get her number before I left though."

"Oh my god, Britt! She's going to cook you dinner?! That's so cute! Just get her number from Roxy's file!"

"First off, she never said dinner would be a date. It's just a nice thank you gesture for me taking care of her since she's knows I can't cook. And I can't get her number from Roxy's file! That would be totally unprofessional. If I had to call her regarding Roxy, it'd be fine, but to use it to call her for a date…or whatever it'll be…that would be unprofessional. I'm sure I'll run into her again. Or she can call here. She has this number to reach me at," the doctor reasons.

"What if she feels like it'd be weird for her to call you at your place of work?"

"Well, then maybe I'll ask for it if I see her running again or if we go to her bar again."

"Oh, we'll definitely be going to her bar again! No doubt about that!" confirms the Asian woman.

"Yeah, well, we'll see what the future brings. But anyway…what's on our agenda for today?" Brittany asks, going into work mode.

"I can't believe you fell in front of the hot blonde!" laughs Puck.

Santana had been telling Puck and Sugar why she's currently sitting at her desk with a wrapped up ankle propped up on the chair next to her before Puck decided to interrupt her.

"I didn't fall! Tripped? Yes. Fall? No. And it wasn't my fault Roxy decided to bolt in front of me! Besides, it led to a pretty good day off…minus the whole currently being gimpy thing," the Latina defended herself.

She continued her story about the previous day, only receiving a few interjections from her friends. She may or may not have left out how sweet and thoughtful she found the woman, how she offered to cook her dinner, and how she found herself starting to drop her guard around the blonde. Santana wasn't ready for her friends to freak out when she wasn't even sure if she could call the blonde a friend, let alone think if it could possibly lead to anything more.

"Wow, Lopez, I'm surprised you let her take care of you and Roxy. This chick must be something special," Puck said, his laughter completely gone.

"Are you gunna see her again?" Sugar asked.

"I don't know. I mean, we don't have anything official set up aside from Roxy's next appointment," the brunette informs her friends, looking down at her desk.

Both Puck and Sugar have a feeling that Santana was holding something back from them. Sugar looks over to Puck and gives him a subtle head nod toward the door, and he instantly understands she wants to try to have some girl talk with Santana.

Puck clears his throat, making Santana look up at him. "Alright, well, I'm gunna go restock the bar before it's time for us to open," he says before sliding out of the office.

Once the two women are left alone in the room, Sugar gives Santana a pointed look. "Okay, what do you mean you 'don't have anything official set up' with Dr. Pierce?" she pushes the Latina for more information.

"Well," Santana sighs, "I kind of offered to cook her dinner."

Sugar is about to say something, but Santana cuts her off, "But only as a thank you for taking care of me and Roxy yesterday. She really went out of her way for us so I feel like I should do something nice in return. And she told me yesterday that all she can really cook is pancakes, so I figured it'd be nice to make her a home-cooked meal, ya know?"

Sugar waits for Santana to stop rambling before she finally speaks up. "You do realize that even if it's just a nice gesture as a thank you, that's still a big deal, coming from you, right? I'm guessing she doesn't know that you wouldn't just do that for anyone."

"Yeah, well, she deserves it after spending her whole day taking care of me. She even made sure to take care of Roxy, too. She was super sweet, so it's the least I can do," Santana says quietly.

"It seems like she's already gotten under your skin a bit," Sugar states softly, knowing that this conversation is turning into a very important one.

Santana lets out another sigh. "She has. Ugh, I don't know. It's just…the way she so easily took care of me…and how she genuinely seemed happy once I let her do so. She was so gentle with me. And sincere. And then when she hugged me before she left my place, I can't deny that there was chemistry. I know she felt it too," admits the Latina.

"What's the problem then? Think about it San, she's beautiful, obviously smart given her career, sweet, gentle, caring, and thoughtful. Seems like the full package."

"That's just it. She seems too good to be true. What if I do try to take things further with Brittany and she turns out to be just like HER? I can't go through that again. I can easily see myself falling for Brittany, and that scares the shit out of me."

"It's okay to be scared, but you can't let it hold you back from moving on. I don't even really know anything about Dr. Pierce outside of her as a Veterinarian, but I can just tell that she is NOTHING like…her. I think she could be really good for you. I say you should get to know her and see where things go."

"Even if I did decide to try to be friends…or something more…I didn't even think to get her number last night before she left. So I just have to wait until I run into her again, or until Roxy's next appointment."

"Why don't you just call her office? You already have that number."

"I can't call her at work. That'd be like, weird or something. I feel like I'd be breaking some unwritten rules about professionalism," explained the Latina.

Sensing this conversation was coming to an end, Sugar finished with, "Well, hopefully her and her friends will stop in here again sometime soon then. Do you need anything before I head out front to help Puck?"

"No, thanks. I'm good."

"Okay. If you need anything, just text me," Sugar says with a smile before leaving the office.

Santana resumes filling out paperwork, running payroll, and purchasing more supplies. She finds her mind drifting to a certain beautiful blonde more times than she'd care to admit and realizes she agrees with Sugar's hopes of her returning to the bar with her friends sooner rather than later.

 _Sunday…_

The rest of the week had gone by without the women seeing each other, and both women remaining too stubborn to use their resources in order to be able to call the other woman.

Santana's ankle had very much improved in the past week, but she hadn't been able to go running at all. Instead, she'd bring Roxy to the dog park located close to the trail she loved to run. Brittany had been right, as long as she allowed Roxy to get her energy out early on in the day, she had turned out to be an extremely well-behaved puppy. She was already housebroken and hadn't had any more destructive incidents around the house.

Once again, Roxy had decided to get Santana up super early on a Sunday morning, so she was still slightly grumbling as she opened up the gate to the dog park, noticing they were the first ones to arrive. Santana unhooks Roxy from her leash and takes a seat on one of the benches lining the fence. Roxy spots a squirrel in the corner and rushes off to try to catch it. The squirrel easily gets away before the pup gets anywhere near it, and after a minute or so of barking through the fence, Roxy finds a ball to distract herself with.

The Latina is playing a game on her phone when Roxy shoves the ball onto her lap.

"Okay girl, you ready?!" she asks the pup as she launches the ball across the dog park.

They continue playing their game of fetch, Santana wanting to wear out the pup before heading home.

Brittany woke up early Sunday morning and since she couldn't fall back asleep, she decided she might as well head out for her daily run. She walked to the nearby park, stretched her muscles out, and began her run. After about 45 minutes, she's nearing the dog park area of the park and hears a voice that she'd been missing for the past week.

"C'mon girl, bring it back!" the tan woman yells out to her dog, which was bounding toward her with a ball in her mouth.

Brittany enters the dog park and walks over to where Santana is still sitting. "Hey, stranger!" the blonde greets.

Santana looks up, surprised to see Brittany standing right next to her. "Hey, yourself. Just finishing your run?" she asks while watching Brittany stretch so she doesn't cramp up later on. ' _Damn, this woman is flexible'_ crosses Santana's mind, and she is suddenly very grateful she has a filter between her brain and her mouth. Santana can't deny the attraction she feels toward the gorgeous blonde, but she can still prevent herself from acting on it. At least for now.

"Yup. Saw a really cute girl in here so I had to stop by. Her mommy isn't too bad either," the blonde winks, then turns to pet the pup who is now demanding her attention. Santana is happy for the distraction as she tries to rid herself of the blush currently tinting her cheeks.

Brittany sees that Santana is a little flustered by her flirty comment, so she changes the topic to something she knows is safe.

"How's your ankle?" she asks as she throws the ball for the energetic puppy.

"It's much better, thanks. Haven't been able to run on it yet though, hence the reason why the little one and I are kickin' it here again this morning."

"That's good. Have you brought her here every morning? I'm surprised I haven't seen you before now."

"Yeah, I have. But it's been varying times in the morning. Pretty much just whenever she decides to wake me up," says Santana with a little chuckle.

The two women continue throwing the ball for Roxy and catching up on how their past week was. They're currently sitting in a comfortable silence, until Brittany voices a question that's been on her mind from the moment she sat down next to the beautiful brunette.

"Do you, umm, think I could get your number? I meant to ask last week when I dropped you off at your apartment, but forgot. I've actually been hoping to run into you again so I could ask for it," Brittany shyly admits.

Santana takes Brittany's phone and enters in her number, then texts herself so she has the blonde's number as well. As she's handing it back to Brittany, she teases, "You know you could've just looked in Roxy's file and gotten it. I listed my cell as the best way to contact me."

"Ugh, Tina said the same thing! But I didn't know if you'd think it was unprofessional of me to look in Roxy's file for my own personal use," the doctor explained.

Santana is happy to learn that she had been an important enough topic for Brittany to talk to Tina about. "Okay, I'll give you that. I certainly wouldn't have minded you doing that, but I can understand where you're coming from. Guess it's a good thing we ran into each other today then, huh?"

"Yeah, seems like it's almost becoming a Sunday ritual for us," the blonde laughs. "I kinda like it," she says with a small smile.

"I do, too," the brunette says and smiles back.

Just then, Roxy comes over and plops herself down at the women's feet.

"I guess it's time to take this one home," Santana chuckles as she hooks the leash back on her pup.

Her and Brittany get up and head toward the gate.

"You're still limping," Brittany notices. "I thought you said it was better."

Santana couldn't help but internally smile at the concern she heard in the other woman's voice.

"Don't worry, I think I just overdid it a little this weekend. The bar was ridiculously busy, so I had to help out up front. It IS feeling much better than earlier this week. Even better than just last night."

Santana sees that Brittany looks a little lost in thought as they exit the fenced in area. Blue eyes look over in to brown and the blonde finally speaks her mind.

"How about I walk you home? I'll hold the leash, just in case Roxy tries to bolt again. Don't want your injury getting any worse, now do we?"

Santana blushes at the sweet gesture, but old habits die hard. "You can walk me home, but I'm perfectly capable of holding Roxy's leash," the Latina states matter-of-factly.

Brittany was already expecting such a response, so she counters with, "Please? I know you can take care of yourself, but it'll make ME feel better if you let me hold her leash."

Santana makes eye contact with the blonde again and sees nothing but sincerity in those baby blues, so she slowly hands over the leash. The bright smile that appears on Brittany's face makes it worth letting her guard down just a bit.

Santana gives a playful eye roll and smiles. "Fine. But only because you asked so nicely."

"Thank you," the blonde responds, her smile still stretched across her face.

They casually make their way to Santana's apartment, neither woman in a rush to part ways with the other. As they approach her door, Santana remembers her promise from last week.

"Sooo, I still owe you dinner. And since my ankle is pretty much healed up, I was wondering if you're free tomorrow night?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I gotta see if your cooking skills were all talk or if you really have some game in the kitchen!" Brittany says, handing Roxy's leash over.

Santana releases a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and smiles at the blonde. "Great, just text me and we'll see what time works best for both of us."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then," Brittany brushes her hand down Santana's arm, smiling back at the Latina, before bending down to say goodbye to Roxy.

Santana enters her apartment and Brittany heads off to her own house, both women excited and nervous for what the next day may bring.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Monday…_

Santana had just finished telling Sugar about her run-in with Brittany yesterday when a terrifying thought struck her.

"Oh my god, Sugar! I don't even know what she likes to eat! What if I make her least favorite food?! Or what if she's allergic to whatever I make?! Or what if she's a vegetarian and I offend her by making something with meat?! Oh god, I should've never offered to cook her dinner! Maybe I can get her to agree to go to a restaurant instead! Maybe..."

"SANTANA!" Sugar yells, making the Latina jump and effectively halting her rambling freak out.

"...yeah?" she says meekly.

"Breathe, sweetie. Just call or text her and ask if there's anything you shouldn't make. Like, any allergies or foods she despises, and go from there."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Ugh, I don't even know why I'm freaking out...it's just a casual dinner to say thank you for last week."

"Sureee it is," teases Sugar.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing..."

"Whatever. It's just a friendly dinner. Anyway, I gotta get outta here and get my ass home to clean up a bit and figure out what I'm gunna cook. Puck should be here any minute. Are you good here 'til he shows up?"

"Yeah, I'm good," she says as Santana heads for the door. As an afterthought, she yells out, "Call me if you need anything...or if you need to chat after your date…I mean, dinner!"

Santana just waves her off as she walks out the door of her bar.

Santana had just finished cleaning her apartment, glad that she tends to be a pretty neat person in the first place. All she really needed to do was dust a little and sweep up the little bit of dog fur that had been shed over the past couple days. She still has no idea what to cook for tonight so she decides to take Sugar's advice and try to get some tips from Brittany herself.

 _To Brittany_ : Hey, just checking if you have any food allergies or something that you definitely don't want me cooking tonight? Hope you're having a good day so far! :)

 _From Brittany_ : Hey, lady! You're so sweet. My day has been alright. Kinda seems to be dragging a little though...probably because I actually have something to look forward to tonight ;) Umm, I'm allergic to coconut (weird allergy, I know haha). Not like a trip to the ER reaction, but I do get icky hives. As for foods I don't want you to cook? I'm really not picky. You can make whatever you feel like making. Well, maybe not pancakes... :P  
 _  
To Brittany_ : haha no pancakes, got it! And no coconut. That'll be easy...I can't even remember the last time I used coconut while cooking. Okay, I know what I'm making!

 _From Brittany_ : What are we having? Do you need me to bring anything?

 _To Brittany_ : Nope! Not telling! And no thanks, just bring your appetite!

 _From Brittany_ : haha that won't be a problem! What time should I come over?

 _To Brittany_ : Is 6pm okay?

 _From Brittany_ : That's perfect :) My next appointment is here so I gotta go. I'll see you later. xoxo

The beaming smile that the simple "xoxo" puts on Santana's face should embarrass her, but all she feels right now is excitement. She puts her phone down and starts working on the dessert first, a light chocolate mousse. Once she's done with that, she puts it in the fridge and begins getting all the ingredients ready to make chicken and broccoli fettuccini alfredo. She really wants to impress Brittany with her cooking skills, so she decided to make the pasta from scratch. A couple hours later, Santana has everything prepped and ready to be cooked. She takes a quick shower and gets ready, then starts cooking the meal so it'll be done right around the time Brittany is due to arrive.

Brittany shows up right on time after having stopped home after work to shower and feed LT. Santana is busy plating the food, so upon hearing the knock at her door, she yells out, "It's open!" and finishes bringing the dishes over to the table in the corner of the kitchen. She meets Brittany by the front door where she's leaning over and saying hi to Roxy, who happily greeted her as soon as she walked in. Once again, Santana is stunned by her natural beauty. The blonde is dressed casually in a pair of skinny jeans and a nice blue blouse that really makes her eyes pop. She has a minimal amount of make up on and Santana has never seen a more beautiful sight. She sees Brittany taking off her flip-flops and warns, "You should probably put those in the closet to your left. Roxy has gotten much better, but still has a thing for flip-flops."

"Thanks for the heads up," Brittany grins. "Mmm, it smells fantastic in here!"

"Come to the kitchen. I just set the table with our food."

"Awesome," Brittany says as she follows Santana into the next room. "What are we having?"

"I made chicken and broccoli fettuccini alfredo. Is that okay?" asks the Latina a little nervously.

"That's more than okay. It's actually my favorite pasta dish," the blonde answers with a big smile on her face.

"Well, I can assure you you've never had THIS recipe. I made the pasta and sauce from scratch. I bragged about my kitchen skills last week, so now I'm showing them off!" says Santana with a smirk as Brittany stands there with her mouth slightly agape.

"You didn't have to go through all that trouble for me! Seriously, Santana, I would've been happy with boxed pasta and jarred sauce. You already know I can't cook, so anything would have been a pleasant change from my normal microwavable dinner or take-out."

"Pssh. Don't worry, I wanted to do this for you. You really took care of me last week when you didn't have to, so I wanted to show you just how much I appreciate that. C'mon, sit down before it gets cold," she finishes with a genuine smile.

Santana pours them both a glass of wine and sits down next to Brittany. She waits for Brittany's reaction before she starts eating.

"Oh my god! This is the best thing I've ever tasted!"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Seriously, if you didn't own Pucktana's, I'd hire you to be my personal chef. Holy crap."

Santana blushes at the compliment and begins to eat as well. They talk about their day, Brittany having more to talk about since she actually had a full day of work unlike Santana. When they finish their meals, Santana clears their dishes and Brittany stands up to help but stops when she hears, "Ah, ah, ah. We aren't done yet! Sit back down, please, and I'll get our dessert!"

"But I'm sooo full!" Brittany groans. "Not that I'm actually complaining or anything. That was so delicious!"

"Thank you. But trust me, you're going to want to make room for this. I knew we were having a heavy meal so I made a light chocolate mousse for dessert," the brunette says as she sets Brittany's dessert in front of her.

"I can't believe you even made dessert. I feel so spoiled right now!"

"Yeah, well, I'm just returning the favor. Now you know how I felt last weekend," Santana admits with a small, bashful smile as Brittany takes her first taste of the dessert.

"That's it! I mean it, San, if you decide owning a bar isn't your thing anymore, I will hire you in a heartbeat to cook for me! This is sooo good! Have you ever thought of adding a restaurant as a part of Pucktana's?"

"Nooo. I like cooking as a hobby, but I wouldn't want to do it as a profession. I'd probably go off on a customer if they sent something back to the kitchen," she laughs.

"Well, you can cook for me anyyy time you want," the blonde winks at Santana.

Santana blushes at this and Brittany thinks she is absolutely adorable.

After they finish eating, Santana gives Brittany a quick tour of her apartment, which consists of a large kitchen, living room, bathroom, and two bedrooms. They reach Santana's bedroom last and Brittany takes in the rich, dark color scheme that just screams Santana. She quickly glances over a few photos of her, Puck, and Sugar on her mirror, an iPod docking station on her dresser, and a large flat screen TV located directly across from a queen sized bed covered with a bunch of very comfortable looking pillows. As they are leaving, something catches Brittany's eye. She sees her favorite shirt she lent to Santana in her hamper, but it's on top of the clothes she was wearing at the dog park yesterday, meaning she wore it sometime between her walking the brunette home and when she showed up this evening. The doctor can't help but wonder if Santana just likes the shirt because it's comfy…or if she wore it because it reminds her of Brittany. She's really hoping it's the latter. They make it back to the living room and take a seat on Santana's oversized couch.

"How about we play 20 Questions in order to get to know each other better?!" the blonde suggests.

"Sure, I'm down. You go first."

"Okay, but the rule is that after the other person answers your question, you have to answer it as well. Only makes it fair in case some really personal stuff is asked."

Santana thinks this over for a second, then says, "Deal."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Blue," the Latina answers as she looks into the bluest eyes she's ever seen.

"Mine tends to change from time to time, but right now, it's chocolate," Brittany says while gazing into Santana's eyes.

"Chocolate is not a color, it's a candy."

"Yes it is. It's a specific shade of brown and it happens to currently be my favorite," defends the blonde.

Santana just giggles, "Fine. Favorite candy?"

"Twizzlers…the regular kind, not pull and peel."

"Mini M&Ms."

They continue on with simple questions for a while, eventually moving on to more personal stuff after they've lost count of the number of questions already asked.

"Last serious relationship and who ended it?" Brittany inquires.

Santana hesitates a little, pondering just how much she wants to reveal to the blonde. "It ended about 8 months ago. I broke up with her," Santana states, not offering the reason behind the break-up.

Brittany internally cheers at the fact that she now knows Santana is open to dating women, but realizes that this is still a sore subject for Santana so she doesn't push her for any more details; choosing to just move on to answer the question herself instead.

"Mine ended about a year ago. He broke up with me because I decided to move out here to open my practice and he didn't want to come with me. Funny thing is…he's now currently dating an ex-girlfriend of mine. Small world."

"Your ex-boyfriend is dating your ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I'm not really into labels," explains the blonde, "but if I had to label myself, I guess I'd say I'm pansexual. I love people for who they are and how they make me feel, not their gender."

"Hmm…I can dig that," Santana says, giving Brittany a reassuring smile to show her acceptance.

Brittany smiles back at Santana and gives a slight nod in response. She doesn't know if Santana likes only women or is interested in both genders, but she now knows enough to know that she could possibly have a chance with the beautiful woman she's starting to fall for. The blonde decides not to dig any deeper at the moment, figuring enough has been said about this topic for one night.

Trying to lighten the mood since her last question obviously hit a nerve with Santana, Brittany skips Santana's turn to ask a question and playfully asks, "Worst kiss ever?"

It works and Santana lets out a hearty laugh. "Oh my god! My first kiss. The girl knew I had never kissed anyone before, so I thought when she finally made a move on me, it'd be soft and slow. No. She took me completely by surprise. Basically just turned me to face her and immediately latched onto my lips with no warning whatsoever. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure she was trying to suffocate me by shoving her tongue down my throat. Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't scare me straight after a kiss like that!" she finishes while bursting out in another fit of laughter. "It was horrible."

Brittany's heart flutters upon hearing Santana laugh so freely. "Mine is kinda close to that. Wasn't my first kiss though. A guy I was dating was the worst kisser ever! He'd somehow get saliva all around my mouth. I swear, it took everything in me to not gag afterward. I tried to take control of the kisses to see if he just needed guidance, but nothing helped. Needless to say, it was a complete turn-off and we didn't last much longer after that," the blonde cringes while recalling those memories."

"Oh eww. Gross!" Santana says while cracking up once again. "You totally skipped my turn, so now I get two questions! When was your last one night stand?"

"Never. Intimacy has always been a really important thing to me. I've never seen the point in giving yourself to someone without having feelings involved. I've always felt like it's a special connection between two people and should be cherished."

"How are you still single?" Santana asks softly, amazed that no one has already scooped up this amazing woman.

"Uh-uh, you gotta answer your last question first!"

"Okay, okay. My last one was in college. I was in the closet all throughout high school, so when I finally got out and was free to be me, I kinda went a little wild. I guess I thought I had to make up for lost time or something. I got it out of my system though and am no longer interested in that at all. If I'm intimate with someone now, it means she's really special to me."

"That's the best way," agrees the doctor. "Okay, to answer your other question, on the rare occasion I actually find myself having feelings for someone, they're always somehow unavailable or unattainable."

"I can get the unavailable thing, but unattainable? I'm fairly certain anyone who's single would be more than happy to take you off the market."

The blonde's cheeks are slightly pink as she elaborates, "Well, when I first moved out here, I was working crazy hours trying to get my practice up and running. I really didn't have time to even meet anyone, let alone actually be in a relationship."

"And now?"

"Now? Now I'm pretty much down to normal office hours, with the exception of an emergency or something involving one of my patients. But I still don't go out much. And when I do, it's usually to catch up with friends and have a good time. Meeting someone isn't really on my mind those nights."

"That makes sense."

"So what about you?"

"What?"

"Why are you still single?"

The Latina scoffs at this. "HA! That's an easy one. Because I'm a bitch."

"You are not a bitch, San."

"Ask anyone who's known me longer than you have. They'd say otherwise."

"You've never been a bitch to me."

"Hmm, I guess that's true. You're too sweet to be mean to. I'm not COMPLETELY heartless."

"I think you have a big heart," Brittany says seriously. "And you know what they say…it's the sweet ones you have to watch out for!" she jokes, throwing Santana a wink.

The brunette avoids the first part of that comment and teases back, "Actually, I think they say it's the quiet ones, but good try.

"Yeah well, I'm not quiet so I had to change it up a bit. I'm still waiting for a valid answer…"

"Ugh, I don't know…I'm at the bar most nights, so I meet plenty of women, but they typically aren't the type of person I want to take home long-term, so I don't even bother. Anyone I meet outside of Pucktana's probably just feels my wrath and ends up terrified of me, so I doubt a relationship will come out of that. And I just haven't really been looking, I guess."

Brittany can sense this conversation is coming to a close, but she doesn't want the night to end just yet, so she suggests, "Why don't we put a movie on? It's still early enough…unless you want to call it an early night." The blonde finishes a little timidly.

"A movie sounds perfect," Santana replies as she reaches over and grabs the remote to see what's on. She's flicking through the channels and lands on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It's halfway over, but she doesn't care as she quickly blurts out, "Ahh! This is one of my favorite movies!"

"It's one of mine, too. Let's keep it on."

The women settle in more onto the couch so they are lying down in opposite directions. The couch is extra long, so their feet only make it to about the other's waist. It starts to get a little chilly and on one of the glances Santana has been sneaking of Brittany, she notices goosebumps forming on her arms. Santana pulls the blanket down from the back of the couch, but it isn't quite long enough to comfortably cover both women. Santana offers that Brittany can just use it, but the blonde knows Santana is getting cold, too. Instead, Brittany turns around and lies down between Santana and the back of the couch, pulls the blanket up so it is now fully covering them both, then sneaks her arm back underneath the blanket and gently wraps it around Santana's waist.

"There, isn't this better?" the blonde husks into Santana's ear.

The Latina stiffens at the unexpected turn of events, but quickly recovers and relaxes into the embrace. Her voice cracks as she whispers out a soft, "Yeah."

They continue watching the movie in silence, both loving the warmth radiating off the other woman, and soon fall asleep. Brittany wakes up as the ending credits of the next movie start rolling. She tries to not disturb Santana as she gets up, but the brunette stirs and sleepily mumbles, "What time is it?"

"It's a little after midnight. I should head home. LT is probably getting ready to send a search party out to find me."

The Latina giggles and stands up. "I'll walk you out."

The women put their shoes on and Brittany grabs her keys while Santana clips the leash to Roxy's collar. Once they're in front of the apartment complex, Roxy quickly does her thing and then the women start to say their goodbyes, both feeling like it's the end of a date instead of just a casual dinner.

"I had a really good time tonight. Thank you for making dinner. It was delicious," the blonde compliments once again.

"Thank you. I had a really good time, too," agrees the Latina.

"We should do this again sometime soon," Brittany suggests as she wraps her arms around the smaller woman's waist for a tight hug, breathing in her sweet, yet spicy scent.

"I'd like that," the brunette says as she brings her arms up around Brittany's neck and returns the hug, reveling in the fruity perfume permeating off the blonde's soft skin.

Brittany reluctantly pulls back, but leaves her hands lingering on Santana's hips while Santana's hands stay clasped behind Brittany's neck. They lock eyes before both breaking the gaze to look down at the other woman's lips. Brittany wants to lean in, but has the feeling that she needs to let Santana make the first move or she'll just scare her off. She doesn't have to wait long before she feels the Latina gently grip the back of her neck and sees her start to slowly close the distance between them. Brittany's grip on her hips tightens as she closes her eyes in anticipation of the brunette's lips on hers, but shoots them open again when Roxy's loud barking startles her. Santana quickly pulls back, blushing, and clears her throat before shushing Roxy so she doesn't wake the neighbors.

"Goodnight, Britt," the Latina says, not making eye contact and therefore missing the disappointed look on the blonde's face.

"Goodnight, San. Sleep well," she says before turning and walking toward her car. If she had looked back, she would have seen the brunette watching her walk away with her own look of disappointment on her face.

 **A/N: An almost-kiss! Looks like Brittana's heating up! ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Tuesday…_

Santana and Sugar are getting the bar ready to open while Puck is in the back unloading a new shipment of alcohol into their stockroom. Sugar figures this is a good time to press Santana for details of her dinner with Brittany last night.

"How was dinner last night?"

Santana smiles softly before answering, "It was good."

"That's all you're gunna give me?! C'mon! Tell me the play by play of what happened!"

Santana gives in and tells her everything about last night, up until their goodbye. She purposely leaves out the part where she and Brittany almost kissed. She doesn't want Sugar thinking it was a real date.

Too late. "Sooo, when's your next date?!" the bubbly girl bursts out, clearly excited for any gossip related to Santana's love life.

"IT. WAS. NOT. A. DATE. I already told you, it was just a casual dinner to say thank you."

"Did she make you blush at all during the night?"

"I don't see how that would have anything to do with whether it was a date or not," Santana replies, not answering Sugar's question.

"I'll take your avoidance to answer my question as a yes," Sugar grins. "Was there a kiss goodnight?"

Santana hesitates.

"Oh my god! There was, wasn't there?!" Sugar cries out.

"No!" she sighs, "There wasn't an actual kiss."

"What does that even mean?"

"Umm," the Latina hesitates again before mumbling quickly, "there might have been an almost kiss that got interrupted by Roxy barking."

Sugar just stands there, mouth gaping. She knows Santana is starting to like this woman, but didn't think her walls would start to come down so quickly. The fact that Santana was going to kiss her if they hadn't been interrupted spoke volumes.

"What?" the raven haired woman begins. "It doesn't mean anything. We were caught up in the moment. We're just friends," she defends.

"San..." Sugar says softly, "you and I both know it's a little more than that. You like her, I can tell," she calls her out.

"I don't like her," denies the brunette. At Sugar's pointed look, she concedes, "Okay, maybe I am slightly attracted to her. I mean, c'mon, you HAVE seen her, right?! But it doesn't matter...nothing's gunna happen."

"Why not? From everything you've told me, she seems to be a great person. And you just said that you guys almost kissed, so obviously she's interested, too!"

"Maybe it's a good thing Roxy interrupted us. Even if Brittany is interested in me, I don't know if I'm ready for anything. And she IS great...maybe too great. Like, seriously, she's the sweetest person I've ever met. I don't think there's a mean bone in her body. As soon as she gets to know the full me and sees my vicious side, she'll be running for the hills. Also, I'm a rollercoaster when it comes to anything involving my love life. She probably wouldn't wanna deal with someone who's emotionally stunted."

"You seem to be making progress in that area though. Last night was totally a date, just without the title. That's a big step for you!"

Puck decides to walk into the room right as Sugar makes that statement. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is this about Santana having a date?! Why didn't I know about this?!"

"Hold up, Puckerman. I did not have a date last night. It was just a friendly dinner with Brittany to thank her for taking care of me when I injured my ankle."

Sugar complete ignores Santana's response and tells him, "It was totally a date!…they just didn't call it one."

"Again, I ask, why did I not know about this?!"

"Because I didn't want THIS to happen! You two don't know what you're talking about. It was not a date."

Sugar scoffs and gives Puck a quick recap of Santana's night with Brittany. When she's done, he turns to Santana and says, "It was totally a date. That's my girl, Lopez!"

Santana, who sat down at a table during Sugar's re-telling of the previous night, hides her face in her hands and groans. She misses Sugar mouthing "She likes Brittany" to Puck. She also misses Puck's face softening, knowing this isn't the time to tease if Santana really does finally find herself interested in someone.

"Hey," he says, "why don't you just hang out with her again and see where things go?"

Santana lifts her head, glaring at him. He raises his hands in defense, "I didn't say to ask her out on a date! I just said to hang out. Spend time together as friends and see if it leads to anything more. If it doesn't, at least you'll have a new friend. If it does lead to more, that's even better!"

"Yeah!" Sugar chimes in, "It's a win-win situation!"

"I don't know…" Santana trails off, unsure of what she wants to come out of this situation with Brittany.

Before Puck or Sugar could say anything else, Santana's phone beeps, alerting her to a new text message. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and as she reads the message, a smile forms on her face.

 **From Brittany:** I had a great time last night! Can't wait to spend more time with you :)

Santana bites her lower lip as she replies.

 **To Brittany:** Same here :) How's your day going?

Puck and Sugar exchange a knowing look, but don't say anything. They unlock the front door and wait for the first patrons to show up.

 _Friday…_

Santana doesn't see Sugar again until she gets to work on Friday night. She was supposed to have the night off, but her plans to catch up with an old college friend got cancelled when he was forced to work late. The bar is already open and packed when she shows up. When Sugar finally gets her break, she heads in back to the office, knowing that's where Santana currently is.

"Hey, mama," Sugar greets her friend/boss as she sits down in a chair across from Santana's desk.

"What's up?" Santana asks as she looks up from some paperwork she was just finishing up.

"Ohh, nothing…"

"Sugar…"

"Okay, okay. Have you talked to Brittany at all?" the smaller girl asks excitedly.

"Yeah, we've actually been texting a lot over the last few days," Santana grins a little.

"Aww! About what?"

"Just random stuff. You know, how our day is going, interesting appointments of hers, crazy patrons here. And more typical getting to know each other stuff."

"Well, that's good! Does it seems like just friends texting or have you two been flirting, too?"

"Umm, there has definitely been some flirty banter. But I don't know if she's just naturally flirty or if she's only doing this with me, so yeah…" the Latina trails off.

"Stop doubting yourself so much. From everything I have heard, which you've probably downplayed, it's obvious she's interested in you. I haven't even seen you two interact and I'd be willing to bet you're the only person she's flirting with," Sugar reassures her.

When Sugar's break is over, Santana joins her out front to see how busy they are. They see the bar has become even more crowded, with plenty of people still waiting for drinks, so they both dive in and start taking drink orders. Things settle down at the bar enough for Santana to take a step back and look over the crowd on the dance floor. She sees a circle forming around some dancers and notices it's Brittany and the tall, Asian man from the first night she saw the blonde. A wave of jealousy washes over her as she sees the duo dancing very close and very suggestively. The man keeps his hands in appropriate places, but Santana still doesn't think that is how two people who are just friends dance. They have to be something more. The jealousy turns into a feeling of betrayal. Brittany never mentioned she was seeing someone. She didn't flat out say she was single either, but based on their conversation the day she got injured and then all the flirting they've been doing the last few days, almost always initiated and escalated by the blonde, Santana thought she was safe to assume the blonde was not attached to anyone. As each second passes, the Latina continues to watch the pair dance, glaring in their direction. She finds herself consumed with a variety of negative emotions. She feels betrayed and angry; angry at herself and at Brittany. Angry at herself for allowing herself to feel anything for the blonde, when to her, it's obvious that was a mistake; angry at Brittany for seemingly being so careless with Santana's feelings and leading her on as they've gotten to know each other. The brunette's walls are back full force as she realizes she does not want anything to do with the blonde from here on out.

A group of people distract her as they bombard the bar right where she's standing, requesting shots followed by mixed drinks. After Santana finishes making the last mixed drink for the group, she looks up into surprised blue eyes.

"Santana!" Brittany says, quickly looking back toward the Asian man who is now talking to another guy at a booth across the bar. "I thought you had the night off to meet up with an old friend," she says, more as a question than a statement. She smiles at Santana, but it goes unreciprocated.

"My plans fell through," Santana answers shortly. "What can I get you?"

Brittany frowns at Santana's response, but chalks it up to Santana possibly being a little stressed because the bar is super busy tonight. "Umm, I'll just have a beer. It'll be on the tab open under the name Mike Chang."

Santana scowls upon learning the name of the Asian man. She's also upset he is buying the blonde her drinks tonight, as this just reinforces her theory that they are together. She brings Brittany her beer.

Brittany tries to start a conversation with her. "Hey," she looks into stormy brown eyes, "is everything okay?"

"Yup. Fine," Santana answers coldly. "I gotta take care of the other customers." And with that, she's gone.

Brittany waits by the bar for a bit to see if she can catch Santana once she's done taking people's orders, but it seems like the brunette is trying to stay busy; trying to avoid her. Mike eventually comes to get her and they go back to the booth with their other friends. She shoots Santana a text asking what's wrong since she could tell something was bothering the Latina when she got her beer. A while later, Mike says he's heading home and goes to close out his tab. Brittany hangs back, saying she needs to talk to Santana, or at least Sugar or Puck since Santana hasn't responded to her text from earlier yet.

Brittany sighs out a breath of relief as she approaches the bar, seeing that the crowd has dwindled significantly. She walks over to where Sugar is wiping down the counter and notices Puck behind her replacing some empty liquor bottles on the wall of the bar.

"Hey, Sugar."

"Hi, Dr. Pierce! What can I get you?"

"Actually, I was wondering if Santana is still here."

"I think so. She's probably in the back office. Why don't you text her to come out front?"

Brittany frowns at this, "I texted her like an hour ago but she never responded."

At this point, Puck has been listening in and while he doesn't know what's going on with Santana, he knows he needs to cover for her, at least for now.

"Hi, I'm Puck. Sorry to butt in, but umm, Santana mentioned heading out before we closed, since she was actually supposed to be off tonight anyway. Maybe she already left?"

"Hi, Puck. I'm Brittany. It's nice to officially meet you. Santana's told me a lot about you," the blonde smiles at the mohawked man. "Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just head out then. Bye, Puck. Bye, Sugar."

"Bye," Puck and Sugar say simultaneously. As soon as Brittany is out the door, Sugar turns to Puck.

"What the heck was that? You know Santana is still in back. She never leaves without saying goodbye to us."

"Yeah, I know, but I also know that she would not be ignoring Brittany's text unless something was going on. Right?"

"Hmm, yeah. You're right about that. Think one of us should go ask her about it?" Sugar asks, not necessarily wanting to pry if Santana hasn't come to her first.

"I'll go. I was the one who just covered for her, she owes me an explanation."

Puck walks into the office and finds Santana face down on the desk with her forehead resting on her arms. Her phone was open to Brittany's text but no reply was typed out.

"Sup, Lezpez."

Santana doesn't even lift her head up when she groans out, "I'm really not in the mood, Fuckerman."

"Well that's unfortunate," Puck goads her. "I just officially met Brittany. Very briefly, but long enough to cover for your ass. Wanna tell me why you're ignoring her?"

Santana finally lifts her head up and Puck immediately softens when he sees unshed tears in the Latina's eyes. She fills him in on what happened tonight, ending with how stupid she feels for letting herself be played like this. She admits that she was actually starting to trust the doctor and have feelings for her. Puck stays quiet while she talks; knowing that this much vulnerability from the Latina is a very rare thing to come by.

When Santana finishes speaking, Puck finally voices his thoughts. "Are you sure they were together? Like, did they kiss or anything?"

"I didn't see them kiss, but friends don't dance like that. They were seriously breaking it down on each other. Enough to draw a crowd. And he was paying for her drinks tonight. She probably only agreed to come here with him tonight because she thought I wasn't going to be here. You should have seen the surprised look on her face when she saw me behind the bar. Then she had the audacity to act like she wasn't doing anything wrong!" the brunette starts getting worked up again.

"Calm down, San. If she really is with that guy, it's truly her loss. Don't waste any more time on her. C'mon, I'll walk you to your car. Go home and try to get some rest."

Puck walks Santana to her car after she stops to say goodnight to Sugar. Before she gets in her car, Santana leans in and gives Puck a hug and a soft, "Thank you." Puck hugs her back and whispers, "Anytime, babygirl."

Over the rest of the weekend, Santana actively avoids all of Brittany's phone calls and texts. She throws herself into work at the bar and spending time with Roxy. Santana makes sure to avoid her favorite trail at the park when they go for their runs and even stays away from the dog park itself, for fear of running into Brittany before she figures out what to say to the blonde.

 _Monday…_

Monday morning rolls around and Santana finds herself re-reading Brittany's texts from this past weekend…none of which received a reply from the brunette, and all of which were preceded by an unanswered phone call.

 **Friday night:** What's wrong?

 **Saturday morning:** Hey, Santana. I hope everything is okay. Please call or text me when you see this.

 **Saturday afternoon:** Hey, San. I'm worried about you. Are you alright?

 **Saturday night:** Are we okay? If I did something to upset you, I'm sorry. Please let me know what's going on.

 **Sunday morning:** Hey, umm, didn't see you on the trail today. I was kinda hoping to run into you. Can you please tell me what I did wrong so I can try to make it up to you?

 **Sunday evening:** Look, Santana. I don't know what's going on, but I miss talking to you. It was my favorite part of the day. Can you please call me when you get this so we can work out whatever our problem is?

 **Monday morning:** Santana. Please…just talk to me.

Each text was wearing her down. She could feel the sadness in Brittany's texts, and felt bad for being the one to make her feel that way, but then Santana reminded herself that Brittany brought this on herself by leading Santana on when she is clearly unavailable. Santana distracts herself with payroll and some invoices, and then decides to go home for the day to eat junk food and cuddle with Roxy.

 _Monday…_

"Ugh!" Brittany grumbles after checking her phone for the millionth time since Friday night, seeing that Santana has decided to continue ignoring all her attempts to contact the Latina.

"Still no answer?" Tina asks, already knowing the answer.

"Nope. Nothing. Not a word since Friday night! I have no idea what happened or how I managed to piss her off so bad! We had been texting fine all week, even right up until Friday afternoon. As you know, Mike and I went out dancing at her bar that night and I unexpectedly ran into her when I went to order another beer. She wasn't even supposed to be there that night. She was super cold to me from the get go. I know I didn't say anything to piss her off because she barely even spoke to me that night!"

"Well, let's see. Did your last text convo seem awkward at all?"

"No. She mentioned she was supposed to meet up with an old college friend for dinner. Then our last appointment showed up here so I shot her a quick text telling her so and that I hoped she had a good time. After we finished up with that patient, I checked my phone and had a reply from her saying "Thanks, you too" with a smiley face at the end."

"Hmm...well let's think then. Something must have happened between when you texted last and when you saw her at the bar. Did you talk to her as soon as you walked in or later on in the night?"

"Later on. Like I said, she wasn't even supposed to be working anyway so I didn't look for her when we got there. I saw her when I went to get another drink after Mike and I had been dancing for a while."

Tina's eyes light up as she says, "Let me guess, you two were bringing it hardcore on the dance floor, weren't you?"

Brittany scoffs and replies, "When do we not?! I don't see what that has to do with my Santana problem though."

"Don't you see?! I bet you anything that Santana thinks you and Mike are together! If I was an outsider and saw you two dancing, I'd think the same thing!"

"Oh my god! You probably just hit the nail on the head, Tina. Why didn't I think of that?! This is obviously one huge misunderstanding! Shit! I can tell she has trust issues and just when I feel like I'm starting to get her walls down a bit, this has to happen! I need to fix this."

"How do you plan on doing that when she won't answer any of your calls or texts?"

"I'm going to her house tonight. She needs to hear me out face to face to see that I'm not lying to her. I need to make her believe me."

"Do you think that's smart...going to her house unexpected?"

"Well, she's leaving me no choice. I can't just let her go. There's just something about her. She's special."

Brittany and Tina finish up their day at the clinic and head out to their cars.

"See ya tomorrow, Tina."

"See ya, Britt. Go get your girl!"

 _Monday Evening..._

Santana is sitting on her couch cuddling with Roxy and binge eating mini M&Ms.

"Ya know, Rox, this always happens. I always fall for the girl who'll break my heart. Not that I had fallen for Britt or anything...but I could maybe see myself getting there. I really thought Brittany was different. Things with her just felt different, better. Guess I was wrong, yet again."

Roxy snuggles further into the Latina's chest and licks her face.

"You're the only girl I need in my life. You won't betray me, right girl?" Santana mumbles into soft fur as she holds the pup close.

There's a knock at the door and Santana groans, assuming it's Puck because Sugar knows she wants to just mope around her apartment tonight. She turns her head toward the door and yells, "Leave me alone, Fuckerman!"

As she's leaning over to grab more mini M&Ms, Santana hears her door open and immediately regrets forgetting to lock it after she took Roxy out this afternoon. Still trying to reach for her candy without jostling Roxy too much, Santana says "Seriously, dude, you know I've had a rough weekend...I'm really not in the mood for company."

Santana freezes when she hears her visitor's soft voice say "I'm sorry to hear that, although I can't say mine was any better."

She whips her head around and standing in the doorway to her living room is the last person she wants to see.

"Brittany." Santana stands up, crossing her arms across her chest and scowling at the blonde woman. "What are you doing here? Actually, ya know what...I don't wanna hear it. You can leave now."

"Please just hear me out. I think I know what happened. Let me start off by saying that I'm not with Mike. He's just a friend..."

"Pssh, please!" Santana cuts Brittany off. "Friends do not dance like THAT. It doesn't even matter, it's not like you and I are together or anything."

Brittany is taken aback by the bitter vulnerability she hears in that last statement. Before she can reply, Santana moves closer to Brittany and starts in on her again.

"What, did you think you could just flirt and have some fun, then go back to your man when you got bored or something?! Jeeze, how could I be so stupid to think... Ugh, I don't even know. It doesn't even matter. Same shit, different day."

Santana continues glaring at the blonde, hoping she gets the hint and leaves. She finally turns away and quietly mumbles, "I should have known you were too good to be true," but it wasn't quite soft enough.

Brittany is surprised by the brunette's admission, but still obviously has some explaining to do. She's also pissed that after everything they've learned about each other thus far, Santana could think Brittany would ever play her like that.

"Well, clearly you don't know me at all! It looks like SOME friends do dance like that together. Mike and I have never been anything more than friends. He's dating my friend, Tina...you met her at the clinic. He and I have known each other for YEARS and we both share a passion for dancing. Tina sometimes lets me borrow him, just to dance, because she knows other people tend to not be able to keep up with us AND because she knows we only see each other as siblings," the blonde defends herself. "Yeah, we break it down on the dance floor, but have you EVER seen us touching each other inappropriately while we dance?"

Santana, who's been standing there slack jawed at Brittany's outburst, answers with a meek, "No."

"Exactly! Because Mike and I would never cross that line. If you had simply talked to me about it, we could have avoided this entire weekend! I thought we were making progress. I thought you were starting to trust me!" Brittany's voice softens as she continues, "I can tell you don't trust easily, but please believe me when I say I have absolutely no intention of lying to you or hurting you."

The brunette realizes how big of a mistake she's made and is now having a staring contest with her floor, unable to look Brittany in the eyes.

"San..."

Thinking she's gone and ruined everything, the brunette whispers, "Can you please just leave?"

Brittany cautiously walks over to Santana, stopping right in front of her. She puts her finger under a tan chin and gently forces the smaller woman to look up at her. When Brittany sees unshed tears in the Latina's eyes, her heart breaks.

"Hey now, why are you crying?" Brittany asks as a few tears spill down the Latina's cheeks. The taller woman is quick to wipe them away.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have assumed anything. I just...I just have a really bad track record when feelings are involved, and now I've ruined whatever this is," Santana motions between herself and Brittany, "before it even really started."

Brittany pulls the shorter woman in for a reassuring hug and says, "It's okay. We talked it out and can now hopefully just move past this."

Santana steps back and runs a hand through her hair in frustration. "It's not okay. You've been nothing short of absolutely amazing to me and this is how I treat you? You don't deserve to have to deal with someone like me."

"Sweetie, don't say that. We had a misunderstanding. It happens. Don't beat yourself up over this. Just learn from it and in the future, talk to me if something upsets you so we don't end up in this same situation, okay? Aside from this little blip, you've been amazing to me as well."

Santana bites her lip, then nervously asks, "So we're still friends then?"

Brittany's eyes meet Santana's once again before asking, "Is that really how you see us...as friends?"

Santana's eyes widen and she stutters out, "I...well, I mean...ugh, I don't know."

"Would 'friends' be having the kind of misunderstanding that we just had?" the blonde inquires.

"Well, umm, no. I suppose not."

Brittany takes a step toward Santana, which makes the brunette take one back in an attempt to keep some space between her and the gorgeous blonde. But Brittany is having none of it. They continue this dance a couple more times until Santana's back hits the wall and she has nowhere else to go.

Santana's breath hitches as Brittany removes the last of the space between them. The blonde places her left hand on the wall beside Santana's head as her right hand lands gently on Santana's hip, lightly caressing the thin strip of skin she finds there. She moves her head back to look the Latina in her eyes and asks, "What you're feeling right now...has a FRIEND ever made you feel like this?"

The brunette breathes out a soft, "No."

Brittany moves her face so close to Santana's that when she speaks next, their lips are mere millimeters apart. The blonde whispers, "I didn't think so," and then softly presses her lips to Santana's.

 **A/N: Ahh! Perfect spot for a cliffhanger, don't you think?! Don't worry, the next chapter picks up right where this one leaves off ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Still Monday evening…_

Brittany hears Santana whimper as she begins to respond to the kiss. Tan fingers thread into blonde locks as Santana swipes her tongue across Brittany's bottom lip. Brittany immediately parts her lips and allows the brunette to deepen the kiss, making both women moan as their tongues find a sensual rhythm. The need for air eventually makes the women break apart, but Brittany hasn't had her fill of the Latina yet so she starts trailing wet kisses along Santana's jawline and neck. Santana's knees go weak when Brittany latches on to her sweet spot and she thanks the heavens that Brittany's body is pressing her up against the wall or else she'd be a puddle on the floor right now. Brittany smiles against Santana's neck as she feels the smaller woman's body tremble.

Santana can't believe how quickly she's become putty in the hands of the taller woman. She realizes how easily her walls have fallen and how she constantly feels lost in a state of vulnerability whenever Brittany is around. That simply did not sit well with the strong, independent Latina. These thoughts scare her and jolt her back to reality, forcing her to gently push Brittany back while saying, "Brittany, Britt, wait… We can't… I can't…" she sighs, then continues, "This is a mistake." Every part of her being wants her to take those words back, but her brain pushes forward. She can't take this step. Not yet. It feels like too much, too soon.

Brittany takes a step back and looks into Santana's eyes. She sees the pleading stare the Latina is giving her, begging her to not push this any farther. She can tell the brunette is terrified to let her in. The blonde's pretty sure that if she pressed on, she'd shatter the walls the smaller woman is currently scrambling to put back in place. But she respects Santana. She won't push. Instead, she mumbles out a soft, "Sorry." Immediately, she sees the relief, and disappointment, flash across Santana's face and she knows she's making the right decision. She wants Santana to be sure about this. About them. It doesn't mean she'll completely back off, but for tonight, their moment is over.

Santana's quiet words break her train of thought. "Don't be sorry. I mean, it takes two to tango, right?"

Brittany grins a little at the dance reference and asks, "Friends?"

The Latina looks up at her through her lashes and confirms, "Friends."

"Okay, well, I'm gunna go then. Talk to you later?" the blonde asks, a little unsure.

"Definitely," responds the brunette.

The taller woman pulls Santana in for a gentle hug and feels the Latina melt a little in her arms. She knows there's still something between them. She just has to be patient. With that thought in mind, Brittany makes her way to the front door. As she's closing the door behind her, she turns around to give her favorite Latina a soft smile, which instantly gets reciprocated.

Santana turns around to see Roxy sitting on the couch staring at her.

"What?" the brunette asks her dog.

Roxy just stares at her with a look that Santana would swear to be a scowl.

"I know, I know. I probably just blew my chance with an amazing woman. But what if she turned out to be just like…her. I can't take that chance again," Santana explained to her pup as she grabbed her leash to take her out one last time before getting ready for bed.

 _Tuesday…_

As soon as Santana walks into Pucktana's and shoots Puck and Sugar a friendly smile, they both know something is up. They hadn't seen a genuine smile on the Latina since early Friday evening. The two share a look and Sugar decides to take the lead on this one.

"Hey, San. What finally got that beautiful smile to make an appearance?"

"Huh? Nothing. I'm just in a good mood."

"You haven't been in a good mood since Friday night," Puck interjects.

"Well, I may or may not have talked to Brittany last night. Turns out, there was just a big misunderstanding. We're friends again," Santana replies, intentionally leaving out the part where Brittany gave her the most mind-blowing kiss of her entire life.

"Friends?" asks Sugar.

"Yes, friends," the brunette says, a little defensively.

"Oookay," Puck chimes in as he and Sugar share another knowing look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Santana snaps.

"Nothing!" Sugar jumps in before Puck really kills Santana's good mood. "We're just happy to see you happy again, aren't we Puck?" She glares at the man.

"Right! Yeah, of course."

"Mmhmm…sureee," Santana says with a slight smirk. "Well, enough about me, what's new with you two?"

 _Tuesday…_

"So I'm guessing by that grin on your face, last night went well?" Tina questions Brittany as soon as the blonde makes her way up to the clinic doors to unlock them.

"Yes and no," replies Brittany cheekily.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Well, short version: I went to her place, she yelled at me, I yelled at her, we shared the most amazingly passionate kiss ever, and then left it as us being friends."

"Wait a minute! Hold the phone! You guys kissed?! But now you're just friends? I don't get it."

Brittany lets out a happy sigh. "It was the best kiss ever, Tina. But something snapped in her and she got spooked. I'm guessing it has to do with why she always has her guard up. I could see in her eyes how much she wanted it, but I could also see how scared she was. I couldn't push her when she was so emotionally vulnerable. We agreed to be friends, although I still plan on figuring out a way to win her over."

"Hmm, well I guess that's probably the smart thing to do. Hey, at least you know she's a really good kisser!" Tina says.

"Yeah she is…" Brittany says dreamily.

"Okay, c'mon Casanova, let's get the exam room prepped for our first appointment," Tina giggles.

 _Tuesday afternoon…_

Brittany feels her phone vibrate right as she finishes up with the first appointment after lunch.

 **From Santana:** "Thank you for coming over and knocking some sense into me last night. I'm really glad we're friends again :)"

 **To Santana:** "Not a problem! Next time, I'll just make sure to not wait an entire weekend to barge into your place ;) lol"

 **From Santana:** "There won't be a next time for that. I may be hot-headed and assume things prematurely, but at least I can say I learn from my mistakes."

 **To Santana:** "Well that's good to know. How's your day going?"

 **From Santana:** "Pretty good. I have an interview for a new bartender in a few minutes. Already had to fire the last one I hired…kid couldn't retain anything!"

 **To Santana:** "Aww haha that's too bad. I'll let you get ready for your interview then. Good luck!"

 **From Santana:** "Thanks! :)"

Brittany and Tina finish up the rest of the appointments and clean the clinic before they lock up for the day.

"Hey, Britt, do you wanna come over for dinner tonight? Mike's cooking on the grill!" Tina asks as they make their way to their cars.

"Thanks, Tina, but I can't. I'm having dinner with a former colleague. She's in town visiting relatives and we agreed to meet up before she goes back home. Raincheck?"

"Of course. Have fun tonight!"

"Thanks. Tell Mike I say hi!"

 _Tuesday evening…_

On her way home from the bar, Santana realized she hadn't gone grocery shopping recently so she debated between stopping at the store or just getting takeout and going shopping tomorrow. Her rumbling stomach answered her question for her. Shopping will be postponed until tomorrow. She quickly checked the time and saw that it was only 7pm so she decided to swing by her favorite restaurant, Breadstix, and get something to go. She'd already been at the bar longer than expected and just wanted to get home for her pup. The brunette called ahead and placed her order, making sure to ask for extra breadsticks. She knew she was early when she pulled into the parking lot, so she decided to just go inside and wait, hoping there wasn't a long line for to-go orders. She wasn't waiting long before she heard her name being spoken, but it wasn't coming from the pick-up counter. She turned her head and saw Brittany walking over to her. The blonde was wearing a tight, yet classy, blue dress and had her hair down in loose curls. The sight momentarily took the brunette's breath away. She quickly recovered as Brittany came up right beside her and she greeted the taller woman with a hug.

"Hey, Britt!"

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Just picking up dinner to go and then heading home for Roxy. It's kinda been a long day for her so I didn't wanna make her wait for me to go grocery shopping. What are you doing here?" Santana wanted to compliment Brittany on her dress, but didn't want to cross her self-imposed boundaries in regards to the blonde.

"I'm waiting for…"

"Brittany Pierce!" another brunette shows up and interrupts her answer to Santana. "My, my, my look at you, you little stunner. You look absolutely amazing!" the woman husks as she grabs Brittany into a tight hug.

Santana stands there awkwardly as she sees the woman take a step back and devour the blonde with her gaze. Brittany senses Santana's discomfort and quickly realizes introductions need to be made.

"Oh! Emily, this is my friend, Santana. Santana, this is my friend, and former colleague, Emily."

"Nice to meet you," both women say politely.

Emily steps a little closer to Brittany and says, "Are you joining us? I thought I was going to get this pretty little thing all to myself tonight."

Santana narrows her eyes a bit at what the woman is insinuating, but catches herself and puts on a look of indifference before Brittany can see her initial reaction.

"No, no. I'm getting food to go."

Santana is pretty sure Brittany doesn't even realize she's being hit on by Emily. She isn't happy to be witnessing this interaction, but at least is taking some comfort in the fact that Brittany is in no way even attempting to flirt back with the woman. Her gaze has been on Santana for most of this conversation and the brunette thinks that might be why Emily is acting somewhat territorial right now. She's saved from this awkward moment when she hears her name being called at the pick-up counter.

"That's me. It was nice meeting you, Emily. Bye, Britt."

Before Santana can turn to walk away, Brittany pulls her into a hug that lasts just a little bit too long and whispers a gentle "Bye, Santana" in the Latina's ear. The small woman shivers when warm breath hits her ear and Brittany pulls away with a smug smirk before turning back to her other friend who's currently shooting daggers at the Latina with her eyes.

Santana pays for her food and hurries away from that awkward situation.

 _Wednesday…_

"Well, that was short-lived. What happened to happy Santana?" Puck questions after Santana walks into Pucktana's and starts grumbling about having to restock the bar; something that should have been done last night after close.

"Nothing, I just didn't expect to walk into this today."

"Oh c'mon, San, we both know we always leave some restocking to do before we open. Wanna tell me what's really bothering you?"

"Not particularly."

"Okay, how about if I guess? Hmm…I'd say it probably has something to do with a certain blonde bombshell, right?"

"Ugh, it's not even a big deal. I just ran into her last night when I was picking up food to-go from Breadstix. She was meeting an old friend/colleague for dinner and the woman was seriously hitting on her as soon as she showed up. I didn't like seeing that, okay?"

"Wait, was Brittany on a date?"

"No, definitely not. I know Britt wouldn't already be going on a date with someone. She isn't like that. She also wasn't responding or encouraging any of the flirting…and was kind of giving me more of her attention while the three of us were talking. I'm not even sure if she realized her friend was basically hitting on her right in front of me. It just really sucked seeing someone else be interested in her, someone who wasn't afraid to flirt with her. I'm not stupid, I know there must be plenty of people out there who'd kill to even go on one date with her...let's face it, she's pretty amazing. I just didn't wanna see it firsthand."

"She's really gotten under your skin, hasn't she?"

"She has. Ugh, I don't know. Just being around her…it just…" the Latina trails off.

"It feels right with her, doesn't it?" Puck finishes her sentence for her.

Santana closes her eyes and sighs. "Yes," she admits.

"Then why the hell are you running away from her?!"

"I just…I don't know. I'm scared, okay? I don't know if I'll be able to take it if I fall for her and she turns out to be like all the others."

Puck's face softens as he pulls his friend in for a much needed hug. "Just take it one day at a time with her then, babygirl. See how things go."

 _Thursday evening…_

Brittany walks into Pucktana's, hoping to surprise her favorite brunette. She sees Puck and Sugar behind the bar, but no Santana.

"Hey, guys," Brittany greets them upon reaching the bar.

"Hi, Brittany."

"Hi, Dr. Pierce!"

"Sooo, where's Santana?" Brittany asks while she still has the attention of Santana's friends.

Puck steps closer to answer the blonde. "This one here," he says pointing at Sugar, "was bored at home so she came in to work on her day off. I told Santana we could handle it and sent her home to relax for the night."

"Oh, well, I came here to surprise her but I guess I'll just head out since she's already left," the blonde says as she gets up to leave.

"No! Stay a while. Have a beer, on the house," Puck offers.

Brittany feels there's an ulterior motive somewhere here, but decides to take Puck up on his offer. He goes to grab her beer while Sugar tends to another patron who approached the other end of the bar.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"Sooo…" Puck trails off.

"Sooo…" Brittany mimics, knowing she was right and figures Puck is about to grill her about something right now.

"You and Santana…"

"What about me and Santana?"

"I can tell she really likes you, Brittany."

"Well, that's good, because I really like her, too."

"Good, good. I can also tell that it's scaring the shit out of her. Santana's last girlfriend really did a number on her. She had basically closed herself off to letting anyone in, romantically, until you came along. I know she's still fighting herself right now, but you've pretty much already made it past her walls. Shit, she'd kill me on the spot if she knew I was telling you all this."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything," Brittany reassures him. Right now, she'll take any info she can get that might help her get closer to Santana and she knows Puck and Sugar are really the only people the Latina truly trusts.

"Well, like I said, her last girlfriend really did a number on her. Santana had been cheated on in the past, and Alex, her ex, knew that. She swore she'd never do something like that to Santana and Santana believed her. They were together for two years. Shit, Santana had a ring and everything. She was ready to propose...but then she caught Alex cheating. She found out Alex had been cheating on her for 6 months. Santana was absolutely crushed."

"I figured something had to have happened in a past relationship. Trust issues like hers don't come from nowhere…" the blonde trailed off.

"Look, Britt. Sugar and I have talked – again, don't tell Santana - and we both agree that if Santana falls for anyone, we'd love for it to be you. We think you'd be good for her."

"I'm glad to hear that, but what am I supposed to do? She keeps pushing me away every time we start to blur past the friendship line."

"Just be patient with her. Don't back off, but don't push her for anything until she's ready. Slowly win her over. She's already admitted to having feelings for you, you just have to wait until she's ready to truly accept and embrace those feelings. You need to prove to her that you're not like the women she's dated in the past. I know she wants to love again; she's just scared of being burned. Take her on dates, but don't call them dates. Woo her until she suddenly realizes that you've been dating for a while, and that she doesn't have to be afraid of her feelings for you."

"Thank you so much, Puck. I promise I'll do right by her and won't screw this up. She already means too much to me."

"I'm gunna hold you to that promise," Puck says with a smile.

"Alright, well, I'm gunna head out. Again, thanks for the advice. Have a good night, Puck."

"You, too. Bye, Britt."

 **A/N: So that explains why Santana is so scared to let anyone in. But Brittany is now more motivated than ever to win Santana over. Let's see who has more willpower!**

 **Spoiler Alert!: Don't worry, I'm obviously Team Brittany. Brittana Forever!**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Three months timeframe…_

Brittany and Santana have been spending a lot of time together and their friendship has gotten unbelievably strong. Every Saturday morning is spent having brunch together (Tina knew to leave a gap while scheduling appointments) and every Sunday has the women going on a morning run together, with Roxy of course, and then spending the day having movie or Netflix marathons. Both women have remained single, preferring to spend whatever mutual free time they have with the other.

Neither woman will admit it to the other, but they've both fallen completely head over heels for their counterpart with every new thing they learn about the other woman. Brittany has made sure to stick to her plan of slowly winning Santana over. She hasn't done anything too crazy that crossed the line, but definitely does things to let Santana know she's thinking of her.

One time, she got Puck and Sugar to sneak her into Santana's office where she left the brunette a small vase of white daisies (her favorite flower) and a little tube of mini M&M's. Another time, Santana was texting her while at work, complaining that she was hungry because she forgot to eat before going in to work so Brittany surprised her with her favorite Breadstix dinner and a double order of breadsticks.

Brittany knew she was gaining brownie points for these little things because they showed that she actually listened to Santana and learned her likes and dislikes. Anyone could go and buy expensive gifts, but Brittany's surprises were from the heart…and based on the feedback she was secretly getting from Puck and Sugar, she was doing a damn good job of impressing the lovely Latina.

Brittany also made sure to help Santana take care of Roxy after she was spayed. With Brittany's extra care, Roxy's recovery went quicker than expected and she was going for her morning runs again in no time. Santana fell just a little harder for Brittany when she saw how carefully she tended to Roxy post-surgery.

It wasn't all one-sided though, when Brittany fell ill with a nasty Spring-time flu, Santana was there as often as possible to take care of her, even cooking Brittany homemade chicken noodle soup when she refused to eat anything else.

Over the past three months, Brittany has built pretty strong friendships with Puck and Sugar, just as Santana has become friends with Tina and Mike. Both sets of friends were just waiting for the day when they heard the news of the two women becoming official girlfriends. Everyone could see how perfect they are for each other. Each of the women's friends, some on multiple occasions, had even caught them in heated situations.

Brittany and Santana had yet to share another kiss, but that doesn't mean there weren't any almost-kisses. There were actually quite a few of them. The chemistry between them was undeniable, but both women were nervous about taking the next step; Santana due to her own insecurities and Brittany due to her fear of ruining all the progress she's made with Santana thus far.

 _Saturday…_

This was the first Saturday in three months that Brittany and Santana had to break their brunch plans. Brittany had to schedule an emergency surgery for one of her favorite patients and did not want to wait until Monday to perform the procedure.

Santana completely understood and told her not to worry about their plans.

 **From Britt-Britt:** "The surgery was a success! :)"

 **To Britt-Britt:** "Awesome! Although, I knew it'd go well…she was in the best hands ;)"

 **From Britt-Britt:** "Aww! Thanks :) just wanted to share the good news with you."

 **To Britt-Britt:** "Thanks. I have good news, too…I got the night off! I forgot that some company had booked a party at the bar, and Puck said he and Sugar could easily handle it if I wanted the night off. Yay!"

 **From Britt-Britt:** "Nice! Wanna come over later and get a jump start on tomorrow's movie marathon? If you aren't busy…"

 **To Britt-Britt:** "I'm never too busy for you ;) I have a few errands to run, but should be free around 3pm. Would that be good for you?"

 **From Britt-Britt:** "That's perfect. I'm almost done cleaning up here anyway so I'll be home shortly. Come over whenever you're free. You can bring Roxy if you want…I think LT misses her lol"

 **To Britt-Britt:** "Will Do!"

 _Saturday afternoon…_

It's about 2:50pm when Santana pulls into Brittany's driveway. She knows she's a little earlier than she had initially said, but Brittany did say to just come over whenever she's free. Santana walks up to the front door and rings the bell. Brittany doesn't answer. She waits a minute and rings it again. Still no answer. Santana knows Brittany is home because she parked behind her car, so she tries calling the blonde's cell but it goes to voicemail. Now Santana's starting to worry. She tests the doorknob and it's unlocked. The brunette enters quietly, in case there's something wrong (she watches a lot of crime shows). Most of her worries go away when Roxy goes straight to LT's bed to cuddle with him. If there was something wrong, she'd be acting strange, right? Santana hears loud music coming from the basement…the one place she has yet to see of the blonde's house. She makes her way over to the basement door, opens it slowly, and carefully descends down the stairs.

Her remaining worries disappear as she finds Brittany in a fully finished dance studio, dancing some intense hip-hop choreography to "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera. Her moves are definitely living up to the title of the song she's dancing to. The blonde woman has her hair pulled up in a messy bun and is wearing sweatpants and a sports bra. Santana's breathing picks up as she notices sweat dripping down a set of well-defined abs and she finds her mouth instantly dry at the sight before her. She's pretty sure all the moisture in her body has found a home in her panties. Santana thought she had seen Brittany dance suggestively at her bar, but that dancing pales in comparison to the moves she's pulling out right now.

That song ends and the blonde's iPod changes to "Dancing" by Elisa. Brittany flawlessly changes from hip-hop to contemporary choreography and where Santana was beyond turned on watching her before, she's now mesmerized by the story the dancer's movements are currently telling. The Latina watches silently, her eyes slowly filling with unshed tears as the blonde continues dancing. Santana never wants her to stop, but alas, all good things must come to an end.

Brittany jumps a little when she finally sees Santana standing at the bottom of the stairs and halts her movements. She walks over to her docking station and turns her iPod off. As the blonde starts stretching to avoid cramping up, Santana finally finds her voice.

"Sorry for interrupting you," she says sheepishly, "and for just barging in to your house. I got worried when you didn't answer the door or your phone."

"No worries. It's not like I've never just walked in to your place before," Brittany says with a cheeky grin. "Sorry for worrying you, I guess I just lost track of time."

"It's fine. But way to not tell me you have a full dance studio in your basement! I guess you weren't lying when you said you're passionate about dancing. You're…amazing."

"Thanks. Yeah, this is kind of just my place to escape and lose myself. I didn't get to go running this morning, so I figured I'd blow off some steam before you got here."

"Just when I didn't think this house could get any better… Damn," the Latina chuckles.

Brittany smiles when she hears the smaller woman's comment. She finishes stretching, grabs her water bottle, and motions for Santana to head back upstairs. She follows right behind the brunette and may or may not check out her ass just a little bit on the way up.

"Let me take a quick shower and then we can figure out what we wanna do for dinner later. Pick out a movie while you're waiting. If you want or need anything, you know where everything is," the blonde yells as she makes her way upstairs to get clean clothes from her room.

Fifteen minutes later, Brittany comes back downstairs fresh and clean and ready to see what movie Santana picked out. Two movies and a white pizza from Lombardi's later and both women are starting to doze off on Brittany's couch. They were about an hour into the third movie when a loud noise jolted Santana awake, making her fall off the couch. Brittany could not stop laughing and actually had tears forming in her eyes when she felt herself being pulled off the couch. Santana moved to quickly straddle the blonde and started tickling her mercilessly.

"You think that was funny?! Huh?!" Santana yells over the blonde's shrieks of laughter.

"Stop! Stop! Mercy!" Brittany yells in between gasps for air.

"Never!" Santana yells.

Brittany manages to grab a hold of Santana's wrists, but the hold quickly gets reversed as Santana pins the blonde's hands above her head. Both women stop laughing as some serious sexual tension settles all around them. They lock eyes in an intense stare, both briefly taking the time to glance down to enticing lips. Santana starts leaning down towards the blonde woman still lying beneath her. As cliché as she knows this moment is, she also can't help but think about how right this feels. Right before her lips land on Brittany's, Santana feels a wet tongue on her cheek. Roxy has, yet again, effectively ruined their moment. The brunette buries her head in the crook of Brittany's neck and groans, then pulls back and starts to get up, but Brittany holds her in place, still straddling the taller woman.

"Go on a date with me," the blonde says, but Santana knows it's more of a question than a statement.

"Brittany…" Santana sounds hesitant.

"San, it's obvious there's something between us. One date. Give me one chance and then decide if you want to stay friends," the blonde softly pleads.

"…okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. When?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"I can do that."

"Okay then, tomorrow night," Brittany confirms as she slowly sits up, guiding Santana to sit up as well. "Wanna finish the movie?"

"Yeah, it's not that late."

They finish the movie and Santana decides to call it a night.

"Are we still running together in the morning or…?" the brunette trails off.

"Yeah, we are. Meet me here at 7am?" Brittany asks as she walks Santana and Roxy to the door.

"Sounds good. See you then," Santana says as she gives Brittany a hug goodnight.

"Goodnight," Brittany says and watches to make sure Santana gets in her car okay. As soon as she closes the door, she calls Tina.

"Hey, Britt," Tina greets as she answers her phone.

"Hey, Tina. I need your help."

"What's wrong?!"

"Nothing! Nothing, sorry. Santana agreed to go on a date with me…tomorrow night. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I need a favor and help setting up for it after I get back from our run in the morning. Think you and Mike can help a girl out?" Brittany asks.

"OH MY GOD! It's about damn time! Of course Mike and I will help you!" Tina yells into the phone.

"Thank you! Okay, here's the plan…"

Brittany and Tina go over all the details and once everything is planned out, they say goodnight. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day so they need to get all the sleep they can get.

 _Sunday…_

Brittany wakes up at 630am feeling nervous and excited for her date with Santana tonight. She throws her hair up in a ponytail, puts on her running clothes, and gets her water bottle ready. As soon as she's done with that, she hears her doorbell ring. She checks the clock and as expected, it's already 7am. She opens the door to find Santana in her running gear and Roxy wagging her tail excitedly.

The women exchange shy smiles and greet each other with a hug before Brittany locks up and they make their way to the park. Once they reach their favorite trail, they stretch and then head out. They just run together for a while until Santana breaks the comfortable silence that had settled over them.

"Sooo, where are we going tonight?" she asks.

"Uh-uh. It's a surprise," the blonde replies, shooting a quick grin at her running partner.

"Aww! C'mon, Britt! You know how I am with surprises. I go crazy trying to figure them out!" Santana whined.

"You're cute when you whine," Brittany winks at Santana, "but that doesn't mean I'm gunna cave and tell you."

"Ugh, fine! Can you at least tell me what I should wear?"

"Just wear something super casual. Like, jeans and a t-shirt would be fine. Something comfortable."

"That doesn't help me narrow down what we're doing, but thanks for at least giving me that," Santana grumbles.

"You're welcome!" Brittany says smugly. "Oh! And eat a little something before I pick you up, but definitely don't come totally full."

"Jeeze, could you be any vaguer?!" Santana huffs.

"I mean, I could try…" Brittany trails off.

"Smartass," Santana giggles and bumps shoulders with the blonde as they continue running.

They finish their run and use the distance back to Brittany's house as their warm down. When they approach her house, Brittany turns to Santana and asks, "So, I'll pick you up at 7pm?"

Santana gives her a small smile and says, "I'll see you then."

Brittany runs inside and takes the quickest shower ever, knowing she'll have to take another one after everything is set up, before heading out to go meet up with Tina and Mike. They should have already started setting up stuff for the date tonight.

The three of them get the final touches done at 530pm, leaving Brittany just enough time to drive back home, shower, and get ready before she has to pick Santana up. As she's leaving, she tells her friends for the umpteenth time how much she owes them, but they just smile and tell her to have a great time tonight.

Both women spend way too much time trying to pick out a casual outfit, but they still want to impress the other even though they aren't getting all dolled up. Before going to pick Santana up, Brittany goes to the very back of her yard, picking her single best tiger lily from the wild garden growing there. She remembered Santana saying how beautiful the flowers were a couple weekends ago. The blonde knocks on Santana's door right at 7pm. When Santana opens it, her breath is stolen. She doesn't know how someone can look so beautiful in a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"H-hey," the blonde stutters out.

"Hey yourself," the Latina says and smiles at Brittany's sudden shyness.

"This is for you," Brittany says as she holds out the flower.

Santana's smile widens at the sweet gesture. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You look beautiful."

"I look normal," the brunette says as she looks down at her clothes.

"Well, you normally look beautiful, so…" Brittany compliments.

Santana blushes at this comment and quietly says, "Let me put this in a vase and then we can leave."

A few minutes later finds the women walking toward Brittany's car. The blonde makes sure to open the door for the Latina before making her way to the driver's side. Santana's already slightly swooning and the date hasn't even started yet.

After driving for half an hour, and Santana persistently trying to get the blonde to reveal their destination, Brittany pulls up to a fairly secluded house. It's clearly old, but still beautiful.

"Umm, Britt, whose house is this?" Santana asks as they get out of the car.

"It's Tina's parents' house. She's house-sitting it while they're on vacation, but it's ours for the evening. C'mon, our date is actually in back, but I have to grab something from inside first."

Brittany and Santana enter the house and the taller woman quickly navigates them through the first floor and into the kitchen where she grabs a basket out of the fridge.

"All set. Let's go!" Brittany smiles and leads the brunette out the back door.

As soon as Santana steps out onto the back porch, she's met with gorgeous scenery. There's a huge lake at the end of the flat yard, with large trees lining the edge to provide them shade. She notices a large quilt already laid out and unlit tiki torches strategically placed around the set up area. Santana realizes Brittany has planned a sunset picnic for their date and thinks it is the cutest thing ever.

Brittany takes a hold of Santana's hand and gently swings it between them as they make their way across the expanse of the backyard. Santana bites her bottom lip to prevent the goofy grin that wants to make an appearance on her face.

When they reach the edge of the quilt, Brittany kicks off her flip-flops and settles down. Santana quickly follows suit. Brittany positions the basket out in front of them and starts emptying the contents of it, placing multiple containers between her and the Latina. There's a variety of fruits, little desserts, and even a small container of mini M&M's, which she places closest to Santana, of course.

"So, as you can probably tell, we're having a picnic. Tina brought me here for one of her family cookouts once and I loved this spot. As soon as you said yes to this date, I knew I wanted to bring you here. The sun should be setting in about a half hour and it's the most gorgeous sight."

"This is perfect. Thank you for bringing me here."

"Oh, this is just the beginning," Brittany says with a sly grin.

The Latina shoots Brittany a look of intrigue, but knows better than to try to get any info out of her. She'll just have to wait and see what the blonde has up her sleeve.

Brittany and Santana pick at the spread of food in front of them and make small talk. Soon enough, the sun is setting across the lake, casting the most brilliant pink, orange, and golden hues across the clouds in the sky. It really is the perfect sunset and Brittany thinks to herself that she couldn't have asked for a better night to have brought Santana out here. As night falls, Brittany gets up and lights the tiki torches surrounding them. They cast just the right amount of light over the area to make it feel romantic, but not drown out the sight of the stars that are starting to shine in the night sky. They talk about anything and everything…hopes, worries, dreams, fears. After they've been talking for a while and learning even more about each other, Brittany clears away the food containers, putting them back into the basket, and then gets up and starts to put out the tiki torches.

"Are we leaving?" Santana asks.

"Nope! Just stay right there until I say so," Brittany answers.

"Whatever you say…" Santana just goes with it as she watches Brittany continue to extinguish the flames on the torches.

As soon as the last flame is out, Santana sees Brittany use the flashlight on her phone to make her way over to the base of the tree located right behind them. A few seconds later, she gasps as she sees the tree light up with soft white Christmas lights. There must be thousands of little lights strewn throughout the branches above them. In a stunned silence, she sees Brittany fiddle again with her phone and then music starts playing all around them.

As Brittany walks back over to the Latina, Santana can hardly find her voice.

"Brittany…" she whispers, still in awe.

Brittany holds out her hand and asks the brunette, "May I have this dance?"

Santana's heart is completely melted as she takes Brittany's offered hand and allows her to help her stand up. Brittany reaches out for Santana's other hand and brings them both up to wrap around her neck. The blonde then wraps her own arms around the Latina's waist and starts to gently sway them back and forth to the music.

"Is this okay?" Brittany asks the smaller woman.

"It's better than okay," Santana says softly, "I've never had someone go through all this trouble just for me. How the heck did you even make this work?"

"It's really just a well hidden extension cord for the lights and Bluetooth speakers for the music. And I might have had some help from Mike and Tina to get the lights all set up."

"Well, I'm guessing this took all afternoon to set up, so thank you. It's perfect. And make sure to thank Mike and Tina for me, too, okay?"

"Will do," Brittany says with a small smile.

Santana rests her head on the blonde's shoulder as they dance to one slow song after another and Brittany holds her close the entire time. Brittany's playlist finally stops around midnight and the two women reluctantly pull away from each other.

"I should probably get you home," the taller woman says.

"Yeah, I suppose it's getting pretty late."

They grab the basket of food containers and wrap up the quilt to bring back with them. Brittany turns off the power to the Christmas lights and speakers, mentally thanking Mike for agreeing to come back up here tomorrow and take it all down. She uses the flashlight on her phone again to lead her and Santana back up to the house, quickly locking up and then packing the basket and quilt up in the trunk of her car. Once again, she opens the passenger door for the Latina before climbing into the driver's side. As soon as they're out of the driveway, Brittany gently takes Santana's hand and laces their fingers together as she drives. They stay like that the whole car ride home.

The drive home was mostly spent in a comfortable silence, with both women sneaking glances of the other and blushing every time they got caught. Brittany eventually parks her car in front of Santana's apartment and gets out to walk the brunette to her door. As they reach her doorstep, Santana finally breaks the silence.

"Brittany?" Santana says softly.

"Yeah?" Brittany replies, just as soft.

"Why are you trying so hard with me?"

"Because you're worth it. You're special."

"I'm a mess."

"Well, as luck has it, I'm very good at organizing things." With that said, Brittany leans in and gives Santana a lingering kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight," she whispers, then turns and walks back to her car.

Santana closes the door behind her and leans back against it. Roxy comes over to greet her as the Latina quietly utters three words: best date ever.

 **A/N: I totally plan on somehow making this date happen for a future girlfriend. I think it'd be so romantic :)  
A/N2: I only have two more chapters written so far. Three more should be coming after that? But I start my new job this upcoming Monday so idk how much time I'll have to write. I'll do my best to get the updates to you guys by the end of each wknd, but that might be delayed if I actually manage to have a social life lol  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

 _Monday morning…_

"Brittany! How'd it go?! Did she like it?! TELL ME EVERYTHING!" Tina ambushes Brittany as soon as she sees the blonde.

"Whoaaa! Hold up! Let me at least unlock the door first," Brittany says with a huge grin on her face.

"Fine, fine. Hurry up!"

Brittany unlocks the door to the clinic and Tina rushes them inside.

"Okay, we're inside! What happened?!" Tina presses her friend for details.

Brittany smiles and says, "Everything was perfect. The most beautiful sunset I could have ever imagined, our conversation was great, and she LOVED the Christmas lights in the tree and the slow dancing. Hands down, it was the best date ever," she says dreamily. "Thank you again for all of yours and Mike's help and for letting me use your parents' house for the date. Santana says thank you, too."

"AWW! I'm sooo glad it went well!" Tina yells and gives Brittany a huge hug. "And you're more than welcome for the help. We were just glad an official date was finally happening!"

"Yeah, well, I totally owe you both dinner or something."

"Deal!" Tina laughs. "Sooo, did you kiss her?"

"Tina! I am a gentlewoman and it was our first date! I gave her a goodnight kiss on the cheek," Brittany says as she blushes slightly.

"Aww, you're too cute, Britt."

"Shut up," the blonde woman mumbles.

The two women take care of the morning appointments and just as Brittany is getting ready to go to lunch, she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out and instantly smiles when she sees Santana's name on her screen.

 **From Santana:** "Last night was absolutely amazing. Thank you for making it the perfect date. Looks like I have some big shoes to fill when I take you out."

Brittany lets out a loud squeal when she reads the text.

 **To Santana:** "Does that mean I've earned a second date? ;)"

 **From Santana:** "Definitely :)"

 **To Santana** : "Awesome :) I already can't wait."

 **From Santana:** "Jeeze, no pressure, huh? lol"

 **To Santana:** "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll love whatever you plan. As long as I get to spend time with you, that's all that matters."

 **From Santana:** "Aww…such a charmer."

 **To Santana** : "I just speak the truth… ;)"

 **From Santana:** "Aww :) well, I gotta get in the shower and get ready for work so I'll talk to you later. Have a great day at work!"

 **To Santana:** "Thanks. You, too!"

Brittany makes sure to relay the text convo to Tina as soon as lunch is over and finds herself unable to stop smiling for the rest of her shift.

 _Monday afternoon…_

As usual, when Santana got to Pucktana's, only Puck and Sugar were there so far. They both look up when they hear the door open. Santana knows she's sporting an uncharacteristically goofy grin on her face, but she hasn't been able to wipe it off her face since she walked inside her apartment last night.

"Damn, mama, you're glowing!" Sugar says as a greeting to the Latina.

"What's up with that grin, Lezpez? You get some last night?" Puck wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"Thank you, Sugar," the brunette flashes her a smile, "and shut up, Puck," she scowls at him.

"Okay, okay," he puts up his hands in surrender, "but really, why are you cheesin' so hard?"

"Welllll," the Latina drawls out, "I may or may not have gone on a date with Brittany last night," she says as another huge smile forms on her face.

"AHH!" Sugar shrieks.

"That's my girl!" yells Puck.

"Glad to see you two approve," Santana jokes, although she really is happy that both of her closest friends have taken a liking to her favorite blonde.

"Dude, we've been WAITING for this to happen! Took you guys long enough!" says Puck.

"C'mon, San! Tell us everything!" Sugar demands.

Santana spends the next half hour telling them how Brittany asked her out Saturday night and all about how perfect the date was. She knows she has the dopiest smile on her face as she's retelling the events, but luckily for her, Puck and Sugar decide to let it slide and don't tease her about it. In all honesty, they are too happy for Santana to do anything to ruin this moment.

"So when's the next date?!" Sugar asks when Santana is finished talking.

"I don't know. I was hoping for maybe this upcoming Sunday night, but I have to think of something good to do with her. It's going to be impossible to beat our first date, but I wanna at least come close."

"I'm sure you'll be able to think of something, don't worry," Sugar says encouragingly.

"Yeah, you'll be fine, San," Puck chimes in.

"We'll see…" the Latina says, a little unsure.

The three of them finished restocking the bar and the little bit of cleaning that was left from the previous night before opening up for patrons. The first few hours were slow customer-wise, but the time actually went by quickly. Puck left around 4pm since he had been there early to receive a shipment of alcohol, leaving Santana and Sugar to their girl talk and a couple other bartenders to take care of the patrons.

 _Monday evening…_

Brittany decides to stop at the grocery store on her way home from work to pick up a few things since she didn't have a chance to over the weekend. She's about halfway done with her mental list of things to get when she runs into Puck.

"Hey, Puck!"

"Hey, Britt! How are you?"

"I'm great! How have you been?"

"Good, good. So I hear you finally took my girl out on a date. Congrats! Just so you know, she said it was the – and I quote - 'best date EVER' so good job impressing her," Puck smiles at the blonde.

"Awesome! I'm so glad she liked it. I mean, she told me she did, but to hear that she told you that…well, that's great!" Brittany beams.

"Yeah. She's all freaking out now because she doesn't know what to do for your next date. It's actually pretty hilarious, but don't tell her I said that!"

"Aww! She doesn't need to worry! I told her I'd be happy doing anything as long as I was with her. And don't worry, I like you, so I won't tell her and have her unleash her wrath on you…although I still have yet to see this wrath so I don't even know how bad it actually is."

"First off, you two are disgustingly cute. Stop it," he laughs. "But anyway, I'm pretty sure she couldn't throw her wrath at you even if she wanted to. She likes you too much. Me, on the other hand? Yeah, she has no problem going off on me. I gotta admit though, I typically have a good time provoking her first and then just regretting the consequences."

"Well, I guess you deserve it then!" Brittany giggles.

"Guess so! Hey, did San happen to invite you to the bar tomorrow night?" Puck asks.

"No. Why?"

"Oh, umm, there's this thing…" he trails off, "Actually it doesn't surprise me that she didn't invite you."

"What thing?"

"It's probably better if I didn't tell you. But I'm inviting you. You REALLY should stop by at 8pm tomorrow. You definitely won't regret it. But you also cannot tell Santana you're coming. At all costs, do not let her know you'll be there unless she specifically invites you. Again, don't feel bad if she doesn't…you'll understand why tomorrow."

"Hmm, super vague, but I'm gunna go with it. I'll be there. 8pm."

"Great! It's gunna probably be packed when you get there. Just try to stay in back, or even the middle. Do not go to the front of the crowd. And even try to avoid the bar…if you want something to drink, just text me and I'll find you."

"Dude, you're being so shady right now," the blonde laughs as she hands over her phone for Puck to enter his number in, "but okay. This better be good."

"Oh, it will be," he says and hands back her phone. "Alright, I gotta get outta here, but remember, whatever you do, do not tell Santana you're coming to the bar tomorrow night!"

"Gotcha, don't worry!"

"Okay. Bye, Britt."

"See ya, Puck."

 _Tuesday - late morning…_

Santana and Puck got to the bar earlier than they normally would on a Tuesday. They had to set up for the event going on tonight. Once everything was in place, they both grabbed a bottle of water and sat down at a table to relax since it wasn't quite time to open yet.

"You seem more excited than normal for tonight," Santana states.

"Yeah, well, it's kind of a bigger deal than normal," Puck replies. "You seem more nervous than normal."

"Guess your reason for excitement is the same reason why I'm a little nervous," Santana admits.

"C'mon, San, you've done this a million times. And nail it every time. There's no need to worry."

"Yeah, but not like this. This time, it's personal," she says quietly.

"San," Pack waits for the brunette to look at him, "you're gunna be amazing, as usual. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Puckerman."

"Anything for my lovely Latina," Puck says with a cheeky grin.

Santana laughs and says, "Okay, I guess it's time to open. Let's go."

 _Tuesday – late afternoon…_

Brittany just walked in the door to her house when she hears her phone beep, alerting her to a new text message. She checks it and sees it's from Santana.

 **From Santana:** "Hey, Britt. On a quick break at the bar so figured I'd see how your day was."

 **To Santana:** "Aww, you're sweet :) I had a good day. Nothing crazy lol. How's your day going so far?"

 **From Santana:** "That's good. My day has been alright. Nothing crazy here either (knock on wood) haha. What are you up to tonight?"

She wonders if Santana is going to invite her to the bar, even though Puck said he'd be surprised if she did that.

 **To Santana:** "I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! ;) I just got home so I'm gunna feed LT, get myself something to eat, and then probably lose some brain cells watching bad reality TV lol"

 **From Santana:** "Aww haha that actually doesn't sound too bad lol"

Looks like she's not getting an invite from the Latina. She doesn't take it too hard though; there must be a reason for it.

 **To Santana:** "You say that now, but wait until I'm babbling nonsense to you later on! :P"

 **From Santana:** "And that'd be different from any other day, how?"

 **From Santana:** "I'm just kidding. You're like, the smartest person I know. Totally a genius ;)"

 **To Santana:** "Nice save :P"

 **From Santana:** "Thanks lol. Okay, I gotta get back out there. Have a good night!"

 **To Santana:** "You, too!"

"See you later," the blonde mumbles.

 _Tuesday night…_

Brittany had texted Puck earlier that afternoon to see if she needed to dress up or anything, but he said to keep it casual. She decided to just wear jeans, her favorite blouse, and a comfy pair of sandals. She got to Pucktana's a little early and noticed more cars than usual in the parking lot.

It's now just before 8pm, so she gets out of her car and makes her way inside the bar, remembering Pucks instructions to basically stay semi-hidden in the crowd. She's still not sure why she's doing this, but figures it'll eventually make sense. She looks toward the front of the crowd and sees a stage set up, which was unusual to her because she's never seen live music being played at the bar before. Normally it's just a killer playlist that Santana created. She's still checking out the stage area when the lights dim slightly and a couple spotlights focus on the stage. Brittany sees Sugar climb the stairs onto the stage and take the mic off the stand.

"Hey, guys! Welcome to our monthly Open Mic Night here at Pucktana's!"

"Well, I guess that explains the stage," Brittany mumbles to herself.

"Boy, do we have a show for you! We have 10 performances lined up for y'all…8 new artists, a VERY special returning singer, and an awesome duet to complete the line-up! Without further ado, let's get this party started! First up, we have…"

Brittany doesn't hear the name of the first artist because she gets distracted by a beer being held up in front of her face. She turns to look at who's offering the drink, ready to reject anyone who might try to hit on her, but finds Puck standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Found ya!" he says loud enough for her to hear over the performer, but not loud enough to distract the people around them.

"Did I pick a bad spot in the crowd? I tried to follow your instructions about where to go."

"No, no. You're fine here. I just knew to look for you so it made it easier. It's gunna be a while for the thing you're here for…I figured you could use a beer in the meantime."

"Thanks. How will I know when whatever I came here for is happening?" the blonde asks.

"Oh, you'll know. Trust me," he smirks again. "Hey, I gotta get back to the bar, but text me when you need another!"

"Okay! Thanks again!"

"No problem!"

Brittany nurses her beer as she watches the first 8 performers, only needing Puck to bring her one more bottle so far. While she has enjoyed the performances, she doesn't really see why she NEEDED to come tonight, according to Puck. She figures she only has one or two more performances to go before she understands his madness.

She eats her words as soon as the "VERY special returning singer" walks onto the stage. The crowd goes wild as Brittany stands there, stunned. The blonde sees her favorite Latina cross the stage and take a seat on a stool that's been placed in front of the microphone.

"Hey, guys. I know I haven't been up here the past few open mic nights, but umm, I guess I just need to get something off my chest. So uh, here's "What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey."

Brittany watches as Santana closes her eyes, swaying gently to the opening notes of the song. When she actually starts singing, the blonde is immediately blown away by the Latina's voice.

" _Watch my life,  
Pass me by,  
In the rear view mirror.  
Pictures frozen in time,  
Are becoming clearer,  
I don't wanna waste another day,  
Stuck in the shadow of my mistakes."  
_

She had no idea Santana could sing like this, so raspy, but somehow so smooth at the same time. She's incredible. Brittany already knows she'd never tire of hearing something so beautiful. As she listens to the brunette sing, she doesn't know what melts her heart more: the simple sound of Santana's voice or the lyrics the woman is belting out.

 _"Yeah..._

 _'Cause I want you,  
And I feel you,  
Crawling underneath my skin.  
Like a hunger,  
Like a burnin',  
To find a place I've never been.  
Now I'm broken,  
And I'm faded,  
I'm half the girl I thought I would be,  
But you can have what's left of me."_

Brittany sees Santana open her eyes and start looking out into the crowd, skimming over the audience to gauge their reactions. __

_"I've been dying inside,  
Little by little,  
Nowhere to go,  
But going out of my mind.  
In endless circles,  
Running from myself until,  
You gave me a reason for standing still."_

Stormy brown eyes meet awe-struck blue. Santana's eyes widen slightly and she looks away, but she doesn't falter. __

 _"And I want you,  
And I feel you,  
Crawling underneath my skin,  
Like a hunger,  
Like a burnin',  
To find a place I've never been.  
Now I'm broken,  
And I'm faded,  
I'm half the girl I thought I would be,  
But you can have what's left of me."_

Brittany can't tear her eyes away from the Latina and when chocolate orbs find hers again, she feels a shiver go down her spine. Santana is singing for her; to her. The smaller woman maintains eye contact and sings with so much passion that Brittany can't tell if her own heart is bursting with joy or breaking at the emotion she hears coming from the woman she's fallen for. __

 _"Falling faster,  
Barely breathing,  
Give me something,  
To believe in,  
Tell me it's not all in my head._

 _Take what's left  
Of this girl,  
Make me whole  
Once again."_

Santana closes her eyes again and just sings. And damn, does she sing. Brittany still cannot believe this voice is coming from her favorite person. She can't for the life of her figure out why the brunette isn't doing this as a career. __

 _"'Cause I want you,  
And I feel you,  
Crawling underneath my skin.  
A hunger,  
Like a burnin',  
To find a place I've never been,  
Now I'm broken,  
And I'm faded,  
I'm half the girl I thought I would be,  
You can have,_

 _All that's left,_

 _Yeah, yeah, yeah,_

 _What's left of me."_

The singer opens her eyes again and stares directly at Brittany as she completes the final verse of the song. __

 _"I've been dying inside you see,  
I'm going out of my mind,  
Out of my mind,  
I'm just running in circles all the time.  
Will you take what's left,  
Will you take what's left,  
Will you take what's left of me?  
Just running in circles in my mind.  
Will you take what's left,  
Will you take what's left,  
Will you take what's left of me? _

_Take what's left of me."_

Santana offers up a quick, "Thank you," into the mic as the crowd applauds her at a nearly deafening noise level. Brittany watches as she gets off the stage and moves behind the bar. The blonde vaguely registers Puck and his girlfriend, Quinn, singing Blake Shelton's "My Eyes" but she can hardly pay attention to their performance when she's too busy trying to make her way over to the talented Latina who just sang her heart out. As she approaches the bar area, she sees Santana hovering by the door that leads into the back. At first, she's afraid the Latina is trying to avoid her, but then she sees Santana nod her head at her, indicating that she wants Brittany to follow her into the back.

Brittany finds Santana sitting on top of the desk in the office, nibbling on her bottom lip…a nervous habit of hers.

"Hey," the blonde woman says gently.

"Hey."

"You were amazing out there. Why didn't you tell me you sing? And sing like THAT, while we're at it. Jeeze, I said before that I'd hire you as my personal chef, but I'd rather hire you as my personal singer. Do they have those?" Brittany jokes, trying to get the Latina to relax a little.

It works as a tiny giggle escapes from plush lips. "I don't think that's a profession." Then she turns serious again, "And I don't know why I haven't mentioned it before. I guess it's kinda like dancing to you; it's an escape for me. Sometimes it's easier to sing something than it is to talk about it," Santana quietly admits.

"I get that. Sometimes you just need something that's yours. I hope you don't mind that I came tonight. I was told that something was going on, but I didn't know what. I'm sorry if I intruded on a personal moment for you." Brittany was now starting to feel guilty for coming.

"No, it's okay that you came. I'm sorry I didn't invite you. I just…didn't know if it'd be weird or something, given my song choice and everything. I was obviously thinking about you when I picked it."

Brittany smiles at Santana's confession. "It's okay. Honestly, I totally understand. But I'm glad I got invited anyway. I meant it when I said you were amazing. That was the best thing I've ever heard. Anytime you need an audience, I wanna be the first on the list! Your voice is just…ugh…it's perfect."

Santana smiles and blushes as Brittany rambles on about how good her voice is. "Thanks," she says shyly.

"No, thank youuu," Brittany smirks, but then turns serious again as she steps forward to stand between Santana's legs, placing her hands on the Latina's sides. "But for the record, I'll take whatever you're willing to give me."

Santana gazes up into blue eyes before reaching up and gently guiding Brittany's head towards her own. Their lips lock in a soft kiss, which gradually intensifies, but still doesn't feel rushed. They're interrupted by the office door opening and they hear Puck immediately apologizing before closing the door again and walking away.

Santana leans back a little and says "I should probably get back out there, too. We have a packed house tonight."

"And I should probably head home since I have to get up early for work tomorrow."

The women look into each other's eyes again and lean in for one more kiss, then reluctantly break apart and leave the office. Santana stops the blonde when they reach the doors leading back out into the bar area.

"Thank you again for coming. Tonight actually turned out way better with you being here," Santana says as a light blush appears on her cheeks.

"Thank you for singing to me," Brittany says, sporting her own blush. She leans in to give Santana a kiss on the cheek before whispering, "Goodnight."

Brittany and Santana push through the doors and the Latina walks the taller woman to the edge of the bar. "Goodnight," she says as the blonde makes her way into the crowd to leave.

 **A/N: Looks like Santana is ready to move on from her past and start anew with Brittany!**

 **(Reviews make me happy!)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I can't help but feel like the first half of this chapter turned out to be a bit of a filler piece, but I hope you still enjoy it!**

 **A/N2: This is the last completed chapter I have for this fic. So let me apologize in advance for not having the next update ready. I'll try to not take forever to write it.**

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee or any of the characters ;)

The rest of the week turned out to be very busy for both women. They were disappointed because they weren't able to spend any time together, but they made sure to text each other when they could throughout the day and ended their night with a phone call before they went to bed. On Friday, they agreed that after their Sunday morning run, Santana would be taking the lead on their next date.

 _Sunday late morning…_

After their usual Sunday morning run, Santana left Roxy at Brittany's since she would be coming back soon anyway. She went home to freshen up, and then it was time for her to put her plan for the date into action. She remembered Brittany making an off-handed comment about wanting Santana to show her how to cook, so the Latina decided to give the blonde a private cooking lesson. Needless to say, the blonde was excited to hear what they'd be doing on their second date.

Santana arrives back at Brittany's after making a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up the needed ingredients. The Latina lugs multiple bags into the house, piquing Brittany's curiosity. The blonde doctor watches as Santana pulls yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, salt, flour, eggs, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, vegetable oil, and two rolls of paper towels out of the grocery bags. The brunette then begins reaching into a couple tote bags and pulls out Ziploc containers, large plate like platters, six big bowls, tongs, two smaller cutting boards, three knives, a sifter, a whisk, a handful of empty coffee tins, and an extra deep skillet.

"What is that?" Brittany asks, pointing at the skillet.

"This…" Santana picks up the appliance and moves it onto the counter, "is an extra deep skillet, although we'll be using it as a fryer today."

"So we're making fried vegetables?"

"Yup! You'll like the way they come out. They're amazing hot or cold. We're gunna slice them up and bread them first. This will be a pretty time consuming cooking lesson, but we have all afternoon so there's no rush."

Brittany sees Santana dig into one of the totes again and pull out two aprons. She puts on a red one that says "Latinas Do It Better" and hands the blonde a blue one with little yellow ducks all over it.

"Oh my god! This is so cute!" Brittany beams.

"I saw it a couple days ago and immediately thought of you, so of course I had to get it."

As Brittany puts the apron on, Santana sees her smile falter a little and immediately asks "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, umm, can you help me tie this?"

Santana can't help but think how cute the taller woman is when she gets bashful. "Of course. Turn around."

Brittany's breath hitches as she feels the Latina's hands skim from the sides of her waist to the middle of her lower back as she pulls the apron strings back and ties them securely behind her.

"Thank you," the blonde's smile returns.

Santana just smiles back and arranges everything into their necessary places throughout the kitchen. She puts the cutting boards, knives, and platters on the kitchen island and everything else spread out on the counters. Santana finally looks at Brittany, who seems a little lost at what she should be doing right now, and tells her to sit on one of the stools at the island while she washes the vegetables.

"Why do we need three knives if there are only two of us cutting up the veggies?" Brittany inquires.

"We'll need a thinner, sharper knife to cut the eggplant as thin as it's supposed to be since it's softer than the squash and zucchini."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense."

Once the veggies are ready, she brings them over to the island and places a zucchini on the cutting board in front of Brittany. She then moves behind the blonde and reaches around her so she can guide her through how to properly slice the vegetable. The Latina feels a shiver run down Brittany's spine at their closeness and gives an internal cheer for being the cause of such a reaction.

"Okay, so first, we're gunna chop the ends off," Santana says as she gently grabs the blonde's hands and shows her how to hold the vegetable so she won't cut herself with the knife. After making a few slices together and placing them side by side on a platter, the Latina asks, "You think you'll be okay on your own?"

"I think so. It seems pretty easy."

"Good," Santana chuckles, then turns serious. "Just go at whatever pace you're comfortable with. I'll probably be going pretty quickly since I've done this a million times, but I don't want you getting hurt so please don't try to match my pace."

Brittany feels herself falling just a little harder at Santana's words and caring tone. She musters out a simple, "Okay," and concentrates on slicing up the pile of zucchinis in front of her.

Santana wasn't lying when she said she'd be faster than Brittany. As she finishes slicing the last zucchini, she looks up and sees that Santana had just finished with the squash AND eggplant. The women now had multiple platters of each veggie sliced up in front of them.

"What's next?" Brittany asks.

"Now we salt all the slices, flip them, and salt the other sides. Once that is done, we let them sit for an hour, then blot up the water that the salt is gunna pull out of them."

Santana starts salting the platters and Brittany follows behind, flipping the slices so the platters are ready to be salted again when Santana is done with her first run though.

"Alright! Let's clean up our mess so far, set up the next steps, and then watch some trashy reality TV until the hour is up!" Santana suggests.

"Let's do it!" Brittany laughs.

After they throw out the unusable veggie bits, they decide to quickly wash up the knives and cutting boards so they can be packed away. Brittany washes and Santana dries. The shorter woman packs the items away and turns back to Brittany to explain what they need to set up for the next part of their cooking lesson, only to be greeted with a wave of water droplets. With a gasp, she yells, "You did NOT just do that!"

Brittany just giggles as she dries her hands off. Before she knows what's happening, the blonde finds herself pinned against the counter, her wrists held above her head against the cupboard. The Latina manages to keep both wrists pinned with just one hand and quickly leans over to grab the faucet hose after turning the water on. She holds the nozzle against Brittany's chest.

"So you think it's funny to flick water at me?!" she asks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

The Latina's show of strength was definitely turning Brittany on, but she was more focused on trying to get the brunette to stand down without spraying her. "Noooo! It's not funny at all! Please don't squirt me!" the blonde pleaded.

"Why not? It'd be sooo easy. All I have to do is squeeze this handle just a tiny bit," she chuckles lowly. "Hmm. On second thought," the brunette pauses, then whispers into the taller woman's ear, "I can think of better ways to get you wet."

Before Brittany can recover from her clouded mind, Santana has already backed away and is pouring both women a glass of wine. The blonde finally snaps out of her trance, mumbling, "That wasn't fair."

Santana just smirks, hands Brittany her glass of wine, and heads into the living room to wait out the rest of the hour. Brittany follows after her, turning the TV on as she takes a seat on the couch. The women watch about a half hour of a Real Housewives of Atlanta rerun before Santana speaks up.

"Are you ready to continue cooking?"

"Yup!"

They head back into the kitchen and blot up the excess water from the veggies, then put them into their own respective bowls. The brunette wipes down the platters and spreads most of them across the island again, leaving a couple to place on the counter next to the other supplies.

"What's next?" Brittany asks once that's done.

"Okay, so before we can fry up the veggies, we need to get them breaded."

While Santana starts cracking eggs into one bowl, she instructs Brittany to dump some flour in another bowl and then some breadcrumbs into a third bowl. As she whisks the eggs, she tells Brittany to lay out paper towels on all the platters left on the island. The Latina arranges all the bowls into the necessary order, then puts an extra platter at the end of the row and explains how the breading process works.

"Alright, first, I'm gunna take a veggie slice and dip it into the flour so it's fully coated, then dip the entire thing into the egg bowl until all the flour is covered, then I'll toss it in the breadcrumbs bowl and it'll be your job to cover it with breadcrumbs, press down on it so they stick to the egg coating, then flip the slice, cover it with more breadcrumbs, press down again, then move it onto the platter right next to you." She demonstrates with a couple slices. "Got it?"

"Yeah, seems easy enough."

"Good. This is gunna get pretty messy. Let's prep a few batches while the oil heats up."

"Sounds good to me."

Santana wipes her hands off, then pours some vegetable oil into the skillet and turns it on.

"Okay, I'll be doing the frying during this cooking lesson because you gotta be very careful to not let any oil splash on you. Hot oil burns are worse than boiling water burns," the Latina explains as she points to an old, small burn mark on her forearm.

Brittany gently takes a hold of Santana's wrist and pulls her arm up to her lips, planting a small kiss on Santana's old burn. The Latina inhales sharply at the unexpected action. Brittany releases her grip and says, "I'll definitely be okay with letting the expert here take care of that part. Thanks."

The women prep a few batches worth of veggie slices. Before Santana starts frying them up, she shows Brittany how to use the sifter to get any clumps out of the flour and breadcrumbs bowls, then tells the blonde to add more of each ingredient to their respective bowls. The Latina starts frying up the breaded slices and Brittany keeps prepping more slices. Santana puts the golden brown slices onto the platters with the paper towels and shows Brittany how they need to soak up the oil from the veggies right away, but make sure to be careful so they don't burn themselves in the process.

When the oil gets too cloudy, Santana pours it out into a couple of the coffee tins to harden before they can be thrown out. Fresh oil is added to the skillet and while Santana waits for it to heat up again, she takes the opportunity to watch Brittany prepping more veggie slices. A wave of warmth spreads through her chest at the domesticity of this date and how it just feels so right, so comfortable, to be doing this with her favorite blonde.

The blonde finally looks up after noticing the kitchen has been quiet for a little while and as soon as she does, she sees Santana burst out laughing. Brittany's brows furrow in confusion, only making the brunette laugh even harder. Once Santana is able to calm down a bit, she finally speaks up.

"Come here, you," she says through a few remaining giggles, "you have flour all over your face."

"Do I really?" the blonde asks, clearly embarrassed, as she steps closer to the shorter woman.

Santana can see the blush form even with the white powder covering most of Brittany's cheeks.

"Mmhmm," Santana confirms as she wets a paper towel and begins to clean off the taller woman's face. As she wipes off the last smudge of flour, Santana leans in and gives Brittany a quick kiss on her now clean cheek.

"There, all better!" she says, a wide grin spreading across her face.

"Thanks," says Brittany as another small blush appears. She turns back to the remaining veggie slices and continues breading them.

After all the veggies slices have been breaded and all that's left is for Santana to finish frying them up, Brittany starts to get antsy.

"These smell sooo yummy! Can we have some now?!" she whines.

"Okay! Okay! You can have a couple…but not too many or you won't be hungry when we actually sit down to eat once they're all fried up."

"Yes!" the doctor cheers.

Brittany holds a piece of squash up to Santana's lips, but pulls it away as soon as the Latina opens her mouth, popping into her own instead, mumbling, "Mmm! Nomnomnom!" as she chews.

"Tease," the brunette pouts.

The blonde steps into the smaller woman's personal space before quietly saying, "Oh, honey, you have _no_ idea." Santana visibly gulps as Brittany continues speaking. "I meant to ask when you first put this on," the taller woman runs her hand lightly down the front of Santana's apron, "exactly WHAT do Latinas do better?" she husks into the brunette's ear. Brittany pulls back to see a confident smirk on the smaller woman's face.

" _Everything_ ," she says with a wink and turns back to flip the batch currently being fried. When she turns back around, she sees Brittany staring at her with chipmunk cheeks. "Brittany!"

"What?!" the blonde says through a mouthful of food. "They're so good!"

Santana just stares back, not saying anything else.

"Do I have something on my face again?" Brittany shyly asks.

"No, you're fine."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"You're just adorable, that's all," Santana says with a soft smile.

The Latina sees the blush starting to creep up Brittany's neck and face as she turns around to pluck the now fried veggies out of the skillet and lay them out on the platter next to her.

Once everything had been fried up and the women ate their fill, they packed away the leftovers, cleaned up the kitchen, washed the dishes, and decided it was still early enough to pop in a movie.

As the movie plays, the women manage to shuffle closer and closer to the point where they are finally cuddling. Brittany is leaning back against the armrest with Santana wrapped up in her arms, head resting on the blonde's chest. The Latina's eyes flutter shut as she feels the doctor start to run her fingers gently through her hair. With a soft sigh, Santana snuggles in even closer to Brittany's body and succumbs to sleep.

Brittany takes this time to simply relish the feeling of being able to hold the beautiful brunette in her arms, taking comfort in the peaceful look on Santana's face as she sleeps. The blonde doesn't know what she did to make the Latina give her a chance, but she vows to herself that she isn't ever going to give Santana a reason to regret her decision.

Santana wakes up just as the credits start rolling. She lifts her head and is met with shining blue eyes.

"Hi, sleepyhead" Brittany whispers and smiles softly down at her.

"Hi," Santana bashfully replies. "Sorry for falling asleep on you. I am the worst date ever." Her brows furrow as she frowns.

"Hey, now. There's no need for that frown. I happened to enjoy every single second of your little nap. I mean, who wouldn't love having a beautiful woman cuddled up in her arms?"

"Such a charmer," Santana replies as her frown turns into a cheeky grin.

"There's that gorgeous smile!"

Santana bites her lip in an attempt to stifle her grin as she sits up. "It's getting kinda late. I should probably head home," she says with a hint of disappointment lacing her voice.

"Hmm, okay," Brittany replies, obviously not wanting the night to end yet either.

Santana wakes Roxy up from her nap with LT and hooks her leash onto her collar. Brittany grabs some of the leftovers from the fridge and the bags of dishes from the kitchen. When she walks into the living room again, she offers to help Santana carry the bags out to her car.

After loading the bags and Roxy into the backseat in silence, Brittany walks Santana around to the driver's side.

She steps up close to the smaller woman and gently wraps her arms around the Latina's waist. "Thanks for the cooking lesson. I really enjoyed this date."

Santana wraps her arms around Brittany's neck and pulls her in for a warm hug. "You're welcome. I'm glad you had a good time. I did, too."

The shorter woman pulls back slightly, leaving her hands resting on the back of the blonde's neck, and Brittany sees a semi-conflicted look cross her face, but before she can question it, it quickly disappears. Santana has apparently come to some sort of decision to whatever had momentarily plagued her mind.

Brittany understands what just happened as Santana grasps the back of her neck a little more firmly and slowly pulls her down to connect their lips. The blonde is hit full force with just how much she's missed the brunette's pillowy lips on her own. She just hopes that when the kiss ends, the reaction isn't the same as their first kiss.

When air becomes an issue, Santana breaks the kiss and mumbles, "Mmm. I missed your lips," before leaning back in to capture Brittany's bottom lip between her own.

When they finally break apart again, Brittany replies, "That's funny. I was just thinking the same thing."

Before Santana can say anything back, Roxy starts barking inside the car. She sighs. "I should really go. I'll talk to you tomorrow though."

"Alright," Brittany says as she opens the door for the Latina. "Goodnight, San."

"Goodnight, Britt-Britt."

Brittany closes the door and walks to her front porch, giving Santana a little wave as she drives off.

 _Wednesday Afternoon…_

"Aww, c'mon, San!" Sugar pouts, even though Santana can't see her. "We haven't gone out dancing in FOREVER! And when's the next time we're gunna get a night off work together?!"

"Ugh, okay, okay. Wipe that pout off your face…I know you're sporting one right now. I'll go out with you tonight. Where are we going?"

"Yes! Let's go to New Directions. I heard they got a new DJ who really knows how to drop a beat!"

"Alright, but you're picking me up cuz I plan to get my drank on," the Latina says.

"Deal! I'll just have Daddy's driver bring us so we can both have a good time! We'll be at your place at 9pm!"

"Okay, see ya then," Santana says as she hangs up the phone.

Santana sees that it's only 5pm now, so she has time to waste before getting ready to go out. She opens her phone to her Favorite contacts list and presses her finger down on the top person listed there. After a couple rings, she hears her favorite blonde's voice on the other end.

"Hey, San!"

Santana can hear the smile in Brittany's tone, which makes her smile as well. "Hey, Britt-Britt. How was your day?"

"It was good. Went by pretty quickly and didn't have any crazy appointments, so I call that a win," she laughs. "How was your day?"

"Boring so far. All I've done all day is go for a run with Roxy and chilled around the house. Sugar is making me go out with her tonight since we never get a night off together. Any chance you'd wanna join us?"

"Aww, I can't," Brittany says, disappointment lacing her words. "I'm taking Tina and Mike out to dinner tonight as a thank you for helping me set up our first date. I was actually going to see if you wanted to join us, but I'm sure Sugar wouldn't let me steal you since you two already have plans."

"Aww, man. I totally would have gone! I need to thank them as well. But you're right…Sugar would kill me if I tried to bail on her tonight. She basically had to beg me to get me to agree in the first place. Maybe we can set up a double date with Tina and Mike soon?" Santana asks, not sure if she's being too forward or not.

"That sounds great! I'll let them know we'll be kidnapping them sometime in the near future! And I'm sure you'll have fun tonight! But, umm, I gotta go. I need to finish cleaning up here, go home and feed LT, and then get ready to go out. Don't be a party pooper for Sugar…you know she just wants to spend some time with you!"

"I'm sure I'll have fun with her…I just planned on lounging around tonight and she ruined that haha. But anyway, I'll let you go. Tell Tina and Mike I said hi!"

"Will do! Bye, San."

"Bye."

 _Wednesday Night_

 **From Sugar:** "You better be ready, Bitch…we're pulling up now! :P"

 **To Sugar:** "I'll be out in 10!"

 **To Sugar:** "jk. On my way."

Santana climbs into the black car waiting outside her apartment.

"Mami, you look HOT!"

"Thanks, Sugar. You don't look so bad yourself!"

The girls pre-game a bit in the back seat of the car on their way to the club. As they pull up outside New Directions, Santana hears her phone alert her to a text message.

 **From Britt-Britt:** "Hey, San. Tina, Mike, and I decided to go out dancing after dinner. We're at New Directions now. Not sure where you and Sugar planned on going, but if you haven't decided yet, you should come join us! If you're already out, no worries…I'll just talk to you tomorrow :)"

Upon seeing the smile on Santana's face, Sugar asks, "Was that Brittany?"

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. I guess her, Tina, and Mike decided to go out dancing after they went to dinner. They're actually inside here. She just invited us to join her if we hadn't already decided to go somewhere else."

"Don't text her back! Let's go surprise her!"

"Okay." Santana grins.

The girls completely bypass the line to get in thanks to Sugar knowing basically everyone, including New Directions' front door bouncer. They hit up the bar before looking for the others. Sugar spots them first and leans over to point them out to Santana. They're already out on the dance floor and Santana is a little intimidated to go dance with Brittany. She knows she can move, but the blonde is just soooo good. She doesn't wanna chance embarrassing herself in front of the dancer.

"Shit, Sug. I'm not drunk enough to go dance with Brittany!" Santana yells over the loud music.

Sugar can tell Santana is starting to panic a little so she pulls her over to a booth to calm down and finish her drink. As soon as they sit down, Santana sees a blonde guy greeting Mike. A minute later, the guy approaches Brittany and starts dancing with her. Santana tries to shrug it off, thinking Brittany might know him since the unknown man obviously knows Mike. The dancing starts off innocent, but the guy quickly begins to get frisky with the blonde. His hands are drifting way too low for Santana's liking and the Latina's jealously flares up hardcore. She sees Brittany move the guy's hands back up to a respectable place and say something in his ear. She's still jealous that someone else is dancing with her Britt-Britt, but feels a little better since she clearly just put the guy in his place. Before the song is over, she sees the guy grab Brittany's ass and pull her flush against him. The Latina starts to make her way onto the dance floor and sees red as she witnesses the guy try to kiss Brittany, only to be pushed away before his lips could touch hers. Brittany is obviously pissed off. If looks could kill, the glare she's shooting at this guy would have him on the ground in an instant.

Santana reaches the pair and wraps her arms around Brittany. She turns toward the guy and gives him her best death glare before saying, "Hey, buddy, you know what happens to people who try to mess with my girlfriend?! Cosas malas! How about you drop yourself down a few pegs and go find someone on your own level. She's taken."

The guy quickly scurries off and Santana loosens her hold on Brittany.

"Sorry about that. I just saw him dancing with you and getting inappropriate. I didn't like that. And I saw you push him away so I just figured it'd be easier to get him to back off if he thought we were girlfriends…"

"San!" Brittany cuts the Latina off and gives her a soft smile. "It's okay. I'm just glad he's gone."

"Oh. Okay. Well, umm, I'm just gunna go find Sugar," Santana says, suddenly feeling a little flustered at being so close to Brittany.

Santana turns to step away, but Brittany is quick to pull her close again. She leans in near the brunette's ear, eliminating any remaining space between the women, and says, "She's already found someone to dance with. Stay here with me. I wanna dance with _you_."

The blonde pulls her head back and Santana gulps at the intense look in the blue eyes staring into her own.

Unable to deny Brittany's request, Santana mutters out a soft, "O-okay."

Brittany doesn't hear her, but she reads Santana's lips and knows that the Latina has agreed to stay and dance with her. The blonde's hands drop to the Latina's hips to start guiding them to the beat of the music. Santana's arms wrap around Brittany's neck and soon enough, both women have slipped a thigh between the other woman's legs. Song after song plays as the women grind on each other, faces so close that they're breathing the same air. They're both flushed and incredibly turned on as their dancing heats up with each song that's played.

The DJ starts spinning a club remix of Sugababes' "Too Lost in You" and Santana turns around to grind her ass into the blonde. Brittany wraps her arms around the smaller woman, pulling her back into her. She hears the brunette moan when the dancer's breasts press against her back. As the song continues, the shorter woman leans her head back against the blonde's shoulder. Brittany's hands roam over Santana's inner thighs, up her taut abs, to finally cup Santana's breasts. The Latina snaps, turning around and crashing her lips into the blonde's. When Brittany moans, Santana takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss. She reluctantly breaks their lips apart, leaning up to speak into the taller woman's ear.

"Brittany," she pants out, "take me home."

Brittany grabs Santana's hand, leading her out of the club. The women don't even bother saying goodbye to their friends. Brittany hails a cab, giving the driver Santana's address as she slides into the backseat. The brunette follows right behind her and immediately straddles the dancer, leaning in to reconnect their lips. She trails her lips down Brittany's neck and the blonde is pretty sure she's died and gone to heaven…Santana's lips feel THAT good on her skin.

They're interrupted by someone clearing their throat and realize they have already arrived at Santana's apartment. The brunette shoves a wad of cash into the cabbie's hand and all but pulls Brittany out of the cab behind her. Santana is trying desperately to unlock her front door, but is getting very distracted by the soft, pink lips sucking just below her ear. She finally gets the door open and is greeted by a barking pup. The noise is enough to momentarily distract the women from each other.

"Umm, I'm just gunna let Roxy out real quick. Make yourself at home. If you want something to drink, you know where everything is," Santana says as she hooks her dog up to her leash.

Roxy quickly does her business, but Santana takes a couple extra minutes in the fresh air to clear her mind. She's pretty nervous about where this night is clearly headed. She wants Brittany. She wants her so much, but she hasn't been with anyone in a long time. The thought of being intimate with someone new is making the brunette feel extra vulnerable right now. She knows Brittany is different though, so she takes one last deep breath and heads back inside. Santana enters her apartment to see Brittany still standing by the doorway.

"I thought you'd be settled in by now," Santana says as she unhooks Roxy from her leash.

The blonde saunters over to her, pressing her against the back of the door with her own body, and whispers hotly into her ear, "The only place I want to get settled…is between your legs."

Upon hearing that, Santana's body instantly heats right back up and she feels a new gush of wetness flood her panties. She whimpers.

 **A/N3: Anddd I think that's a good place to stop this chapter! ;) Reviews might encourage me to write the next chapter quicker!**


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